Second Sight Founder

Lucy Mathen retrained as a doctor after 16 years as a journalist. This life-changing decision was taken whilst interviewing a medic in Afghanistan in 1988.
She became an eye specialist and founded the charity in the year 2000.

” Soon after starting the charity I was given a book written by the journalist Graham Hancock.
Lords of Poverty was a damning critique of big and wasteful projects carried out in the name of ‘development ’ which provide ‘jobs for the boys’ and create a culture of dependency in poor countries. Hancock knew that, for the reign of the Lords of Poverty to end, we needed alternatives. He yearned for ‘local-level initiatives, relevant and realistic strategies, and the energy and enterprise of the poor to be allowed to flourish.’
More than a quarter of a century later, Hancock's wish is coming true in rural Bihar, India. It is a joyous and rich tapestry of achievement, a low profile movement involving many remarkable rural Indians and honorary Biharis like ourselves who have worked alongside them for so long. It is egalitarian at heart and laughter is its coinage. It is a world away from the Global Poverty Conference Circuit attended by wealthy plutocrats and massive NGOs making decisions about the poor. It is allowing the energy and enterprise of the poor to flourish. “

Dr Lucy Mathen