2019 Motto: Further Professionalisation

In 2019 we have made significant steps in many regards.

In the following section our main advances, events and contributions will be summarised.

Most importantly we are increasingly working with the host governments now. We met with ambassadors and concluded MoU’s regarding official cooperation with the governments and their customs.

We made an agreement with the government of Kyrgyzstan that we will supply their Kyrgyz mountain people in the South (Pamir Mountains) with sunglasses and clinical eye surgeries. Together with a Ministry we are handling this operation which is planned to take place in the summer of 2020.

Secondly, we have set up a university course at the Technical University of Munich (School of Business) under the umbrella of their Operational Management faculty. The enrolled students were asked to solve some of our logistical issues. They were also asked to come up with a meticulous logistical supply chain flow for the years to come.

* ±2.000

Through this programme we found numerous new and trustworthy distributors in high-altitude regions.

We are now closely working with several trekking and tourist agencies in India and Nepal. Now, trekkers and motorcyclists are equipped with sunglasses to distribute them along their journey. Designated sunglass treks are offered, too. In this way we connect tourism, adventure and altruism to the benefit of all. The distributions will be closely monitored and assures a continuous flow of distribution to avoid stockpiling in our storage facilities.

We also organised a photo exhibition series with the Berlin based photographer Sebastian Berthold in Berlin to raise donations.

In June, we hosted our annual Shades Of Love Party in Amsterdam attracting over 1.000 guests.

We started a film documentary together with a film team from Italy. The final scenes are supposed to be filmed in summer 2020.

We concluded important partnerships and collaborations with international companies and other NGOs.

Himalaya Trip

Volatile Times in Kashmir / Summer 2019

July/August

In the land of the high passes - ladakh

In July/August of 2019 our Co-Founder Niklas Huppmann has travelled to Leh, Ladakh, India together with four friends and equipped with a few thousand sunglasses.

The crew:

Berlin-based photographer Sebastian Berthold

Red Bull Marketing Officer Felix Koppetsch

Middle East based American Andrew Vickery

Entrepreneur Lucas Kianpoor

In Leh they got themselves 5 motorcycles and got everything sorted for the trips ahead. They mapped out the valleys they would like to go and decided to start off in Sakti. However, first, two of the crew members had to be taught how to ride a motorcycle on a parking lot of the local monastery in Leh. With mediocre success but a rapid sunset (high mountains all around) they deemed the training to be sufficient.

We picked up more sunglasses from our storage space in Primary Tibetan Health Care Center. The Center is run by Padma Tashi and is host to a major Tibetan refugee community in Choglamsar. In the hospital complex we store sunglasses. Many thanks to Mr. Tashi and the Tibetan Center for their support in this regard!

The following day they rode to Pangong Lake via one of the most scenic roads along (and through) rivers, lush valleys, snow-capped mountains and eventually ended up at the Chinese border to Tibet. Along the way they pulled over for many road workers, farming villagers and children. Overall the ride took around 10 hours and supplied around 400 people with Shades.

The next days we were riding along the massive river valley, visited construction site workers, apricot farms and the Muslim minority of Ladakh living in Hemis National Park.

Afterwards we paid a visit to the highly militarized area around Lake Tso Kar. We met goat herders, Tibetan nomads and made it all the way to Tso Kar lake despite the horrible weather conditions.

On the last day we met up with the head monk of the Leh monastery and made an agreement that the monastery will help us with the distribution children sunglasses. The monastery supervises a Buddhist school and orphanage.

distribution Route examples: