Eye Health Hero: Naadhira Ndukuya

Naadhira has shown excellence in all aspects of her work at OneSight. She worked with partners to pivot our sustainable model to fit within the policies of the South African government, enabling the government to have much needed evidence to support the National Health Insurance plan. In the development of this plan Naadhira showed her willingness to learn but also to be patient and flexible with the government partners. She has wonderful people skills not only with her peers within OneSight but with our partners such as our donors.

What I love most about my role is the diversity of the work that needs to be done in vision care and getting up in the morning to get going in an ever changing, ever evolving field. Programmes in vision care come with their unique challenges, however the ability to contribute my skills and passion to transforming communities by implementing solutions that lead to more productive members in society through clear sight, is the best feel good factor about my role.

-Naadhira Ndukuya

Naadhira is passionate about contributing to public health and seeing a positive change in the world. She is compassionate, skilled and innovative in her approach; leading by example – making the tough decisions as needed with both partners and her team while ensuring all enjoy the process.

Naadhira always leads the way in showing them in very resourceful ways the importance of good vision and the impact they are making. Equally she has grown her team and has the ability to show them their own potential. One way she shines as a leader is through her hands on approach to managing charitable clinics. Naadhira has led many large volunteer teams in South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia; her calm, inclusive management style always keeps the teams working hard, feeling empowered and confident in the experience – often during uncertain circumstances.

Naadhira is always looking for ways to be creative and fun in inspiring her team and colleagues. For example, during this time of COVID-19 and lock-down she was quickly able to create excitement with online virtual events, videos and games to keep our donors and supporters engaged so that we could continue to fuel funding for our programmes. While doing this she also worked with her small team to ensure we made the relevant changes to our programmes and worked with partners to ensure that programming could continue in a safe and healthy manner.