ONA Network

ONA Network is a non-governmental, non-for-profit trust registered by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was founded by its current executive director, Mr. Frank Magupa, in 1998. Since then, ONA Network has continued to further its prime objective of facilitating, promoting and improving visual and eye health in Tanzania.

Kabissa matches perfectly with our organization—quite literally, in fact. In kiswahili, ONA means “see” or “vision.” Kabissa, as many may already know, means “complete” in kiswahili. Together, ONA and Kabissa hope to provide “complete vision” to Africans through ona.kabissa.org.

For example, ONA Network has developed several programs that deliver optometric care directly to underserved populations at the village and district levels in Tanzania. One of these programs, the Community Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP), conducts regular, low-cost “eye care camps” at villages in Tanzania. In addition, ONA Network is setting up several regional clinics to make low-cost services available at all times. These clinics will gradually expand in scope until they offer complete eye care services to their communities.

ONA Network has implemented a number of programs to maximize the public benefit from the science and practice of optometry in Africa. We are also involved in collecting and distributing information about optometric and general eye care in Tanzania. To this end, we have supported studies to remedy the general lack of demographic and epidemiological information surrounding optometric care in Tanzania. With assistance and support from Kabissa, we are developing a database of African eye care organizations and organizations outside Africa with an interest here. On completion, we hope that it will be one of the most reliable databases of its kind in Africa.

The achievement of ONA Network’s mission depends heavily on volunteers and supporters from locations all over the world, from Tanzania to South Africa to Australia. ONA Network also collaborates with local and international organizations, including the Tanzania Optometrists Association, the Australia Optometrists Association and Unite for Sight, to name a few. In some ways, we are trying to serve as “Optometrists without Borders” in Africa.

But fast and cost effective communications can be a challenge for such a geographically diverse organization. The availability of the Internet and email services has enabled us to overcome the distance barrier and to communicate quickly with our volunteers and supporters around the world.

For example, we depend heavily on our website to communicate with our volunteers. Keeping past volunteers in touch can be a hassle if you have to email each individual volunteer separately. To avoid these complications, ONA Network has recently introduced an eNetwork hosted by Kabissa that serves to bring together our virtual family for our volunteers and permits online access to our volunteer information. We also introduced an online volunteer application form, which significantly reduces the time needed to recruit volunteers. We hope that these innovations will encourage more volunteers to work with us.

The Internet has become an integral part of ONA Network’s programs. Visitors to our website can readily access online information about ONA Network, such as the schedule for our eye care camps, contact information for our branches, and updates on our activities. In fact, all of our eye care camps in Africa are organized through the Internet. More generally, ONA Network’s presence on the Internet increases our visibility and credibility both within and outside of Africa. Indeed, we receive contacts from around the globe from people who visited our website.

To take advantage of these benefits, we believe that an Internet presence is a necessity for all African non-profit organizations. Of course, organizations must find a service provider that is affordable and trustworthy—and one that will not insert advertisements on the website without permission. In our experience, Kabissa is the best choice on all of these points.

In addition to the many other benefits of our partnership, Kabissa matches perfectly with our organization—quite literally, in fact. In kiswahili, ONA means “see” or “vision.” Kabissa, as many may already know, means “complete” in kiswahili. Together, ONA and Kabissa hope to provide “complete vision” to Africans through ona.kabissa.org.