About LWB Light Without Borders began as a mission
to provide essential eye care to those most in need

About LWB

Tibet and India

Light Without Borders  has its roots in 2013 when Luz Carmona went on a pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Kailash in Tibet. While there she distributed hundreds of sunglasses and prescription glasses to Tibetan nomads affected by the strong ultraviolet sunlight. The glasses had been generously donated by the Barraquer Foundation of Barcelona.

The project continued in Ladakh, India and Central and South America when Luz ( the founder of Light Without Borders) had the opportunity to distribute hundreds of sunglasses and prescription glasses to the people and to eye hospitals.

Lesvos 2016

After seeing the drama of the refugees arriving on the beaches of Lesvos, Greece in 2015 and 2016, Luz felt that she had to help. 

In September 2016 as an independent volunteer, she loaded her old Seat Panda car (which she still drives) with more than 800 pairs of prescription glasses and 30 kgs of flower essences and drove from her native Spain overland and by ferry to Lesvos.

With a lot of hard work and perseverance, Luz established Light Without Borders as an NGO with a permanent clinic in Moria camp in Lesvos.

Since 2022 Light Without Borders operates on the Greek mainland with a mobile clinic, which was purchased and equipped thanks to the partnership with the Suyana Foundation. 

Our projects

Our work is centered in Greece, particularly in refugee camps, where we operate a mobile ophthalmology clinic that allows us to provide care in remote areas. In recent years, our target is to create impact in more than 30 refugee camps and urban centers, offering eye screenings and glasses to people who otherwise would not have access to this kind of care.

We are proud partners of the Suyana Foundation and the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, to whom we extend our heartfelt gratitude.

Thanks to our partnerships, we have been able to facilitate cataract surgeries for people like Dauda, a refugee from Sierra Leone who regained his independence after an operation. Stories like Khadija and her baby Ousman, whom we helped with medical care and emotional support, are examples of the profound impact of our work.

 We cooperate with MSF (Medicines Sans Frontières, UNHCR, ( United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and with numerous NGOs based  in the south and north of Greece. 

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Through collaboration with local structures, we aim to ensure that our assistance has a lasting impact. We also integrate refugee communities as volunteers, who assist us with logistics, translation, and distributing glasses, fostering a sense of mutual support and belonging.

In the first two years with the mobile clinic of 3050 patients were screened, 1500 prescription glasses and 750 reading glasses provided and 30 eye surgeries were completed.

Around 60% of the refugee population need eye care, which is not provided by the government or medical actors in the camps. Studies have shown that visual impairment can cause depression, anxiety, social isolation, and other mental problems. Refugees often experience continuous stress, and elevated cortisol levels negatively impact the eye and brain due to autonomous nervous system (sympathetic) imbalance and vascular dysregulation; hence stress may also be one of the major causes of visual system diseases such as glaucoma and optic neuropathy. Lack of a clear vision enforce dependency and the feeling of insecurity. It effects daily live both emotionally and physically.

Impact Highlights Light Without Borders (Last Year)

Expeditions Completed
between August 2023 and July 2024, with 12 planned overall.
Patients served across multiple expeditions (last year)
This includes 727 women, 683 men, and 248 children​
Volunteers Involved
Including 22 ophthalmologists and 30 refugee volunteers​
Surgeries Conducted 36 cataract surgeries in the last year

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LWB

Light Without Borders is dedicated to restoring vision and hope for underserved communities, providing essential eye care to those in need and empowering individuals to see a brighter future.

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