A little boy with a big dream
Seven-year-old Lumnguen, known as Lumi, loves playing with his toy truck and caring for his chickens. But an accident involving a slingshot injured his left eye, causing a cataract to form. As his vision worsened, playing outside became painful and walking to school became dangerous.
Lumi’s condition was discovered during an eye screening at a primary school in Laos. His family worried about the cost of treatment, and without surgery, he risked losing his sight completely.
With support from The Fred Hollows Foundation and the Australian NGO Cooperation Program, Lumi received the cataract surgery he needed at Vientiane Provincial Hospital.
Now, Lumi dreams of riding his bike to school as his sight improves. He also hopes to become a doctor one day.
The doctor who treated him, Dr Visay Chanthavong, knows what it means to have that dream. He became an ophthalmologist and, after training with The Fred Hollows Foundation, now helps people in his community access eye care.
When Dr Visay asked Lumi about his future, the two made a deal: if Lumi becomes a doctor, they will work together.
This Christmas, you can help more children like Lumi get the eye care they need to pursue their dreams.
Too many people are missing out on eye care
In Laos, preventable and treatable vision loss continues to affect people’s lives. Many families face barriers to getting the care they need, particularly in rural communities.
Most blindness is avoidable
More than 93% of blindness in Laos is treatable or preventable.
Distance can put treatment out of reach
Almost 64% of people in Laos live in rural areas, where accessing eye health services can be difficult.
There aren't enough eye specialists
Laos has around four ophthalmologists per million people, highlighting the need to train more eye health professionals and strengthen local services.
Thousands need cataract surgery
An estimated 16,000 people in Laos were identified as needing cataract surgery, with around 6,200 new cases of cataract blindness each year.
Together, we can change the future of eye health in Laos
The Fred Hollows Foundation has worked in Laos since 2008, helping communities access eye care and strengthening the local health services people rely on.
More than 100,000 people have received eye screening, operations and other treatments through this work. Thousands of surgeons, nurses and other health care workers have been trained, and eye health services have been established in 11 provinces, increasing access to care for nearly one million people.
With your support, we can:
- Help children and adults access eye screening, treatment and sight-saving surgery.
- Train local surgeons, nurses and community health workers.
- Strengthen hospitals and community eye health services.
- Help remove barriers that prevent people from receiving care, including the cost and distance of treatment.
Your support is already making a difference
Behind every number is a person who can access care, a family with more options and a community with stronger eye health services. In Laos, during 2025, our work helped:
- Screen 44,604 people for eye conditions.
- Provide 5,811 eye operations and treatments, including 2,828 cataract operations.
- Distribute 7,943 pairs of glasses.
- Train 3,056 people, including 16 surgeons and 2,505 community health workers.
Fred believed everyone deserved the chance to see
Fred Hollows believed that everyone should have access to quality eye care, regardless of where they live or how much money they have.
That belief continues to guide The Fred Hollows Foundation today. In Laos, we work alongside local health professionals and partners to bring eye care closer to the people who need it.
Dr Visay is one of those health professionals. Trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation, he provides eye care to a population of more than 500,000 people through his work at Vientiane Provincial Hospital. He also travels to remote communities to help people who might otherwise miss out on treatment.
When you give this Christmas, you're helping support more than one operation. You're helping build local skills and stronger eye health services so more children, parents and grandparents can access care.
Help continue Fred's vision this Christmas.
Give the gift of sight this Christmas.
Restore sight todayFrequently asked questions
Yes, you will receive an email receipt immediately after donating and if you make a monthly gift you will receive a yearly tax receipt in the post every year.
Restoring sight changes lives and it can only happen thanks to the generosity of supporters like you.
When you become a monthly donor we will send you:
- A welcome pack in the mail within a few weeks. The welcome pack will contain all the necessary information about your monthly gift.
- Your nominated account or credit card will be debited each month on the 15th or 28th (whichever is closest to your sign up date).
- You will receive regular email updates, sharing stories from the field about patients whose sight you’ve helped restore; medical professionals and programs you have supported; events and activities The Foundation has taken part in; petitions and research relating to eye health.
- At the end of each financial year, we will send a tax receipt with all your donations, for you to use for your income tax claim.
Yes. Donations to The Fred Hollows Foundation are tax deductible in Australia because we are endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). To claim a deduction, you must meet the Australian Taxation Office’s eligibility requirements.
You can update your details on our Donor Update Form. Or, you can get in touch and someone on our Sydney-based Supporter Care Team will be able to help you.
Your donation will be used to restore sight to those who are needlessly blind, and help end avoidable blindness in the countries where we work, which includes eye operations and treatments, training surgeons and eye health workers, and other sustainable eye health.
For every $1 donated, 75% goes directly towards eye health programs, 6% is necessary for admin costs, and 19% goes towards investment in fundraising efforts, which allows us to help even more people in future years.
In recent years, The Foundation reevaluated our program costs for small incision cataract surgery to ensure the $25 cost remained accurate. This evaluation showed that it remains possible to restore sight for as little as $25 in many of our program countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Our assessment showed IOL costs start from as little as $4 in Pakistan, about $6 in Cambodia, and about $14 in Bangladesh.
The other key costs are the surgeon’s time (which is less than $1.50 per patient in those three countries) and consumable equipment (as little as $5.46).
So with the cost of the IOL, the surgeon and the consumables it is possible that The Foundation can restore sight for as little as $25 in some countries.
We acknowledge that not all surgeries in all countries are as little as $25. The cost of surgery depends on factors including the country of treatment, the age and circumstances of the patient, how and where the treatment is delivered, the type of procedure, the IOL used, the hospital type (government or private), the facilities of the hospital, inpatient or day procedure delivery mechanisms, and the economic status of people in the country or region.
For one-off donations, we accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or PayPal. For monthly donations, you can use Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or direct debit.
You can change how we contact you at any time. Get in touch, email [email protected], call 1800 352 352 or write to us at Supporter Care Team, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Locked Bag 5021, Alexandria NSW 2015.
Please view our Regular Giving Service Agreement here.
Yes. We are happy to receive donations by cheque.
However, cheques are being phased out in Australia. New cheques will no longer be issued from 30 June 2028, as part of the broader phase-out of cheques by 2030.
If you currently donate by cheque, you may wish to consider switching to another payment method before cheque services are phased out.
Other ways to donate:
- Online: Visit www.hollows.org to make a secure donation online.
- By phone: Call our friendly Supporter Care team on 1800 352 352 to donate by credit or debit card.
- By BPAY: Use our Biller Code 575647 and your unique Reference Number <BPAY Number>.
- By direct deposit: Use BSB 032 057, Account 304 917 and include your Supporter ID <URN> as the reference.
- PayPal: Select PayPal when making a donation through our website.
