The technology of the Adspecs has been featured on our very favourite technology blog, Gizmodo. Thanks for the support guys!

Check out the really cool video that Joel Johnson has made about self-adjustable glasses and how they make a huge difference to people with poor vision around the world:

Adspecs from Joel on Vimeo.

We were caught slightly off guard this morning by hearing that the Adspecs were featured on The Colbert Report last night! Thank goodness the internet allows for sleepy heads like me the opportunity to see what I’ve missed.

The interview was with Designer/Humanitarian/Author Emily Pilloton who recently published her book “Design Revolution, 100 That Empower People.”

Jokes aside, Steven and Emily gets to the heart of the issue that there is something that we can do about fixing this problem. Hopefully this exposure will help!

Thanks to everyone who supported us in the America’s Giving Challenge over the weekend. We raised a lot of money and gained many new donors.

If any of you are moved to contribute again or if you missed the deadline, then you can still contribute through the Global Vision 2020 website or through our Facebook causes page.

This Halloween, we’re taking part in the America’s Giving Challenge from Facebook Causes. If we can take in the most number of donations today (minimum $10) we could win up to $1500 in additional donations in the Daily Challenge.

Head on over to our Facebook Cause page now and help us top the table!

Today is World Sight Day 2009, and here at Global Vision 2020 we would like to thank you for supporting our work to bring vision correction to over one billion people worldwide who lack access to it.

We are developing exciting new projects with local organizations in countries around the world, including Haiti, Tanzania, Bolivia and many others. This World Sight Day, we’re asking you to support us to get these new projects off the ground and distributing glasses to those who need them.

By donating you’ll be able to help get more and more people out there distributing glasses, in more and more parts of the world, helping those who can’t get access to eyecare.

There’s now a number of ways to support us:

• Donate to Global Vision 2020 (or the Centre for Vision in the Developing World)
• Buy our new Global Vision 2020 merchandise
• Give to Global Vision 2020 via Facebook Causes
• Spread the word to your family and friends about our work and our goals – why not become a fan on Facebook of GV2020 or the Centre?
• Set up a vision outreach program in the developing world

We’ll be letting you know about new projects as they’re launched. To help us support these projects and the necessary research into making sure that our work is effective, we depend on your donations.

There’s a lot to be excited about – please support us and help bring vision to those who need it.

If you use Facebook, no doubt you’ve signed up to support our Facebook Cause. Using this you can donate to Global Vision 2020 and spread the word amongst your friends about our work. But until now you’ve had to be signed up to the Causes application, and we haven’t been able to publish news updates that you can read in your news feed.

Luckily now you can sign up and become a fan of Global Vision 2020 – just click here, click ‘Become a Fan’ at the top and then you’ll get news updates in your Facebook news feed. Please invite your friends along as well – awareness of this problem is key!

Want to spread the word about Global Vision 2020 and help us at the same time? Well now you can! The Global Vision 2020 shop is now open for business, selling a selection of branded merchandise. All the profits go to Global Vision 2020 to support our work.

There are black and white T-shirts (both fitted and normal), the Global Vision 2020 bag, a mug and a small logo pin. We’ve got some great ideas for gifts coming up, especially for Christmas, and we’ll keep you updated when we add them to the store.

The shop is powered by Cafepress – who handle all the legwork for us, and assure you of their excellent customer service, delivery handling and secure payment.

Click here to help the world see clearly!

Just a quick note to say that the Centre for Vision in the Developing World and the work of Josh Silver and the Adspecs has been featured in today’s Forbes.com series on ‘Revolutionaries – Radical thinkers and their world-changing ideas’.

We’ve updated our ‘In the News’ page with a link to the article, and you can also click here to see the article ‘Eyeglasses For The Poor’ on Forbes.com.

We are proud to announce a new project that we have set up in the West African nation of Liberia – Bringing Vision to Liberia. Working with the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, Creative Associates International, the US Peace Corps and a number of other organizations, Global Vision 2020 has distributed 1000 glasses at 4 different locations in Liberia. This is a pilot project for us, and has been a great test of our distribution model of using local aid and development organizations who are already operating in-country.

There’ll be more blog posts over the next few days and weeks on Liberia, our impressions, photos, stories and our findings, but at the moment you can check out our Liberia page here for more information on the project. We’ve updated the map to include Liberia, check it out here.

If you’re in the area on September 26th, why not come along to the Aspen Dale Winery in Delaplane, VA, to support Global Vision 2020 with a wine-tasting, dinner and entertainment. Tickets are only $35 each, and all profits go to support Global Vision 2020.

If you’d like a ticket, please click here. For any more information, please email maddie@gv2020.org.