How your next event could give someone their vision back

When Sam, one of our longest-serving team members, was brainstorming where to direct his staff giving donation, he took a moment to reflect.

"I was taking a zoom out and thinking what are the things I’m particularly grateful for. And I was actually looking out at a beautiful sunset at the time and I realised how incredibly fortunate I am to have sight. To not have that just felt crushing in that moment."

Sam’s realisation while watching the sunset highlights a sobering truth for seven-year-old Blaise, for whom that experience isn’t a thought experiment. It is a fading reality.

One man’s perspective, one boy’s reality

What does it take to rank fifth in your class when you can barely see the person sitting next to you?

If you’re Blaise, it takes a level of grit most adults haven’t mastered. At just seven years old, living in Rwanda’s Kayonza district, Blaise was fighting a cataract that was stealing the vision in his only functioning eye, turning his classroom into a blur of shadows. While most kids his age worried about losing a game of football, Blaise was facing the prospect of losing his future.

The turning point

Community health workers, supported by The Fred Hollows Foundation, identified Blaise and referred him to the Kabgayi Eye Unit.

There, he met Dr Tuyisabe Theophile. Knowing how scary a hospital can be for a shy seven year old, the doctor blew up a surgical glove into a balloon to make Blaise laugh before the operation.

A new lens

The morning after surgery, the bandages came off.

Blaise didn’t just wake up. He re-emerged.

He scanned the room, locked eyes with his mother, and did exactly what a seven year old should do. He rushed outside to play football with his friends.

"My skin is glowing because of the inner happiness I feel," Redempta said. "I left with a child who was blind and came back with a child who can see. That child is the future of Rwanda."

Making the donation go further

Stories like Blaise’s don’t happen by accident. They happen because funding is directed toward the interventions that are proven to work.

Reflecting on his staff giving choice, Sam wanted to give the gift of sight to those living with curable blindness. That's when he discovered The Fred Hollows Foundation, an organisation that has restored sight for millions of people worldwide by providing affordable eye care and training for over 50,000 surgeons, nurses, and teachers in more than 25 countries.

Sam’s decision started with a simple moment of gratitude, but ended with a pragmatic choice: rather than funding a single organisation, Sam chose to donate his allocation as unrestricted funding to The Life You Can Save. This allows his gift to reach a  diverse portfolio of high-impact charities, including The Fred Hollows Foundation.

In other words, it was a way to make his donation go further.

Opening doors

At Humanitix, every ticket sold does more than get you through the door to your next favourite event. It opens a door for someone else.

So next time you attend an event using Humanitix, remember that while you’re watching the gig, someone else is finally getting to see the sunset.

Every ticket tells a story. Watch one here: