#WhatTheFuzz
Did you know that there are 94,765 blind people in Nepal, of which cataracts account as the cause for 62.2% of them*. Now listen to this, cataract can be cured with a 15-minute surgery! #WhatTheFuzz right? The country which calls the globally renowned eye-doctor Dr Sanduk Ruit its own still has a long way to go in addressing this disease. The failure to treat cataract on time has resulted to blurry vision and ultimately blindness for so many Nepalese people. A simple surgery lasting only fifteen minutes can change it all and researchers have identified that two main reasons for the low cataract surgical rate in Nepal as being poverty and lack of awareness.
The elephant in the room is the existence of cataract despite the availability of world class eye-care services.
So What’s The Fuzz?
Anthropose, Nepal’s first eye wear brand is a for profit social good company established in 2014 which has been working towards eliminating the deep-rooted problem of cataract in Nepal by providing free cataract surgeries. For every 10 pairs of Anthropose eye wear sold, Anthropose collects enough fund to provide a free cataract surgery in Nepal. Getting straight to it – Anthropose aims to provide 600 cataract surgeries through the sales of its eyewear in the year 2073/2074.
This is where #WhatTheFuzz kicks in! #WhatTheFuzz is an awareness campaign to eradicate cataract and spread awareness about its existence despite the availability of world-class eye-care service in Nepal. The campaign includes the #WhatTheFuzz Challenge, College Campaigns, Two Hours Challenge with a few more still to be confirmed. The campaign will travel from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Narayanghat.
#WhatTheFuzz Challenge
This is the challenge which lets you address the elephant and spread awareness about cataract in Nepal. All that is required is to draw an elephant on a paper and you must be blindfolded while doing this. Make sure the whole thing is recorded and simply upload it on your social media! Kinda like the Ice Bucket Challenge! You can further nominate three of your friends to accept the challenge and help spread awareness about cataract.
Thinking #WhatTheFuzz? Well the main objective of this challenge is to put yourself in the shoes of somebody without vision. It’s addressing the elephant in the room, i.e. the unaddressed issue of cataract existence in Nepal.
View my video below to see how it’s done.
Ways To Help
There are plenty of ways to help including ways where you will not be required to give your money. Firstly, you can help spread the awareness by taking part or accepting the #WhatTheFuzz challenge, share about the campaign, cataract or the work by Anthropose.
You can choose to donate directly to Anthropose’s giving partner Tilganga Institution of Opthalmology through the #WhatTheFuzz website.
Or you can purchase Anthropose Sunglasses, have something for yourself and also help support the cause (with every 10 pairs of Anthropose eye wear sold, Anthropose provides a free cataract surgery).
* (Source: National Population & Housing Census, 2011, Nepal)
Disclaimer: This post was written with the aim to promote the #WhatTheFuzz campaign.
