See Better To Learn Better: Yves Béhar Envisioning a Brighter Future for Mexico’s Children

A couple of years ago a company called fuseproject took on the task of designing the least expensive laptops imaginable for the One Laptop Per Child foundation. Today the company, owned by designer Yves Béhar, has designed nearly indestructible eyeglasses for impoverished children in Mexico. In partnership with the Mexican government, this project has been dubbed “See Better to Learn Better” and will provide free glasses to 400,000 children a year.

The Problem of Poverty

It all started after the Mexico-based eyewear company, Augen, became aware of some disturbing statistics: 11% of Mexican children were failing in school not because they weren’t smart, weren’t trying, or didn’t have access to education, but simply because they couldn’t see and their parents couldn’t afford glasses. In some states the situation was even worse. Around 70% of the kids in the states of Morlos, Sonora, and Chiapas need corrective eyewear. Remedying this situation would be fraught with challenges, but finding creative solutions to complex problems is fuseproject’s forte.

The Challenges

Mexico is not a country of abundant wealth, and eyewear is fairly expensive. Most importantly, most glasses are fragile, and most children active, clumsy, and somewhat irresponsible. Because the country can’t afford to be routinely repairing or replacing broken frames, the fuseproject frames are made of hyper-flexible high-tech plastic that can be bent, stomped on, and abused in a multitude of ways. They can be worn not just at school, but also in the soccer field and backyard.

Another challenge is getting kids to actually wear the glasses they have; kids don’t want to look “nerdy”. Béhar’s solution to that one was to create a design that was customizable – the specs have one color on the top and another on the bottom, and the kids themselves can choose the colors. In school the children are given a fun and interactive “special options catalogue” showing all the designs, colors and sizes they have to choose from, so their first encounter with optometry is a pleasant one.

Mexico and Beyond

Hopefully the project won’t end with Mexico. The Guardian reports that Béhar and Augen are looking into expanding the project into other developing countries. “Design can make a tremendous difference and we believe this is a responsibility that the industrial profession carries: to bring transformative solutions.” Béhar said.

More here:

http://www.fuseproject.com/category-6-product-45
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-04/yves-behar-distributing-free-fashion-forward-diy-eyewear
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/olpc-designer-turns-to-spectacles/
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/eyes-have-it/

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