LVT and the Daybreak Vision Project

We want to make a difference in the world and here at LiveView Technologies (LVT) we can impact our communities and make a real difference. One way is through our partnership with the Daybreak Vision Project.

Several times per year, LVT employees and their families volunteer to help with cataract surgeries in Africa. They work alongside Daybreak’s doctors and nurses to help restore sight to hundreds of people each trip.

Each surgery costs only $25 but can completely change someone’s life. It can help them secure a job, take care of their families, and improve their quality of life.

Here are some firsthand accounts from LVT employees. They have been edited for clarity.

Tyler Dunaway

Mid-Market Account Manager

Thank you, Daybreak Vision Project, for what you are doing to change the world. Thank you LVT for the opportunity to go and volunteer with Daybreak in Ghana. This was a life changing experience for me and my wife to participate in helping restore sight to those blinded by cataracts. We witnessed so many modern miracles. So many lessons learned from the people in Ghana.

The number one lesson that hit me was from a man that only had a slight perception of light (mostly darkness) prior to the surgery. [After] surgery…he was able to see my hand at one meter away from him. In his local language he shouted, "I can see his hand!" He was overjoyed. Other patients around him had more drastic improvements, but he was grateful for the progress and miracle in his life.

Don't compare your progress to others. Look to be grateful for your improvements and you'll find joy!

Brandon Fish

SVP of People Ops

Gandhi told us that, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Thank you to Daybreak Vision Project and LVT for giving me the opportunity to spend the last 10 days in Ghana, Africa with my son, Trevor, losing myself and serving the unshakeable people of Wa, Ghana.

So many stories, so many miracles, so many incredible feelings that I will take with me the rest of my life. To witness those with little to no sight be healed and cured, and in some cases, completely restored to 20/20 vision was crazy. Cataracts are prevalent in West Africa and LVT partnered with Daybreak to help restore sight to 700 of the hundreds of thousands in Ghana who can't see due to cataracts.

Serving is so rewarding and to be able to do so alongside my son and several co-workers was an experience I will never forget. Service is what life is all about and I was able to find a portion of myself this past week.

Africans are tough and I am a changed man after spending 10 days with some of God's most tender creations, the Ghanan people. 

Krista Robinson

Partner Enablement Manager

[I am] humble, grateful, emotional, exhausted, and sad. These are the words I would use to describe my feelings after being given the opportunity to visit Ghana Africa with the Daybreak Vision Project and LiveView Technologies(LVT) for 10 days. Some companies talk about statues, some talk about work parties, but the founders at LiveView Technologies act upon changing lives, not only in the security space, but the lives of employees, spouses, and 702+ Ghana people with the gift of eyesight. [It was] life changing.

Steve Lindsey

Founder and CTO/CIO

LVT’s mission is to make the world a safer place! One of the opportunities LVT has to execute on that mission is through its partnership with Daybreak Vision Project. Multiple times a year LVT donates volunteers and money to provide life changing cataract surgery [to hundreds of individuals]. At no cost to the individual, someone who once was blind for years due to cataracts can now see making it possible for them to return as an active participant in society and their families.

LVT just returned from Africa…It’s a lot of hard work, discomfort, and long days for the expedition team who volunteers. To change the life for the better of even one of those who regain their sight makes all of that work worth it!

Brandon Woolf

VP of Presales

Last week my wife and I returned from an 11-day trip to Zambia in South-Central Africa. It was a life-changing experience and worth posting about for several reasons:
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1. I love that LVT is giving back in this way. Many companies give back in different ways, and this one is a fit for LVT. We partner with Daybreak Vision Project and they are incredible. In the 20+ years of my career, having been involved in many company-sponsored efforts to give back impacting housing, education, mental health, the environment, etc. this effort was by far the most time- and cost-efficient bang for the buck I’ve witnessed. With a 20-minute cataract surgery, costing as little as $25 per eye, the results were incredibly life-changing for everyone involved.
2. I am wowed by the quality of people we were able to work with. The medical volunteers came primarily from Ghana, Zambia, and the US. We were in a remote area of Zambia (a 12-hour bus ride from the airport). Everyone we interacted with was top notch, cream-of-the-crop-incredible, despite the exhaustion of 12+ hour days at the hospital. (OK, one day was [about]18 hours but that was an outlier.) The doctors were incredibly patient with the volunteers, and everyone leaned in to make the time as efficient and successful as possible.
3. I will be forever grateful for the stories I learned from the individuals I met. Blind for years, struggling to survive, and now able to see their loved ones again and able to provide for their families. One man hadn’t seen his wife in 5 years and his first words after taking the patches off the following morning were, “You look more beautiful than ever!” Another man hadn’t seen his 14-year-old son for the past 11 years. The young man had some facial hair and the man’s first comment was, “What is this?” as he rubbed the facial hair. So precious!
4. I realized that as I spent 100% of my time involved in helping others, I completely forgot about all of my own challenges. After returning home, all of my challenges seem much smaller than they did before I left. This is a life lesson—much happiness comes from looking outside ourselves and serving others, whether in our own neighborhood or in another country.
   

If you want to learn more about the Daybreak Vision Project or even help them make more surgeries possible, check out their website.