Sight to Sky was founded after our founder, Elizabeth Tan, went on a solo journey to the Himalayas in 2010, and taught English in a nunnery school, where she experienced unconditional kindness and joy for the first time in the remote wilderness of the Zanskar valley of Ladakh.

 

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw on her first day in Himalayas .

Half the children in her class needed glasses and could not focus on their studies. She met Angmo, a bright 9 year old girl who had big dreams to become a teacher. One day, Angmo dropped out of her class and never returned and Elizabeth found out it was because Angmo had to look after her father, who was suffering from cataracts. Angmo never went back to school, but Elizabeth stayed in touch to support her family. 

Elizabeth started Sight to Sky in 2012 to provide access to eye-care for those suffering from visual impairment, directly or indirectly, like Angmo. Besides primary eyecare and education, Sight to Sky has also been sponsoring cataract surgeries for patients over the years, working with different medical organizations. Elizabeth continued to volunteer personally for medical missions in Myanmar, Borneo and Indonesia and during this time, she also became a student of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and actively applied his teachings on Secular Ethics to the organization.

In 2015, she invited trekking buddy and video producer friend, Edwin Lee, to join in the effort to share these inspiring stories of change born from a pair of glasses. That year, with a team of dedicated volunteers, they also built Sight to Sky’s first solar school project, the Tanpo School, in the neighboring village where Elizabeth first stayed. The Tanpo Solar School provides winter education to over 50 students, whom no longer have to trek on the dangerous ice path for 2 hours a day to attend class .

Many mountains later (including one where Edwin almost lost his toes), Sight to Sky has now screened and provided over 30,000 patients with thand brought more than 150 volunteers, from 10 different countries on their missions. We hope to continue helping our communities see, while also bringing a new perspective to our volunteers on the power of service work.

“ The merits from our work and efforts to help remote communities see and be seen, is dedicated to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, for the benefit of all sentient beings.” - Elizabeth Tan

Elizabeth Tan,
Founder

Elizabeth is an entrepreneur and investor with a passion for making a difference. 

She has grown and exited businesses across retail and consumer goods and is an active impact investor.  Besides giving her time to Sight to Sky, she has spent the last decade fundraising and volunteering for different organizations with a speciality in coordinating medical relief missions. For her charitable efforts, she was nominated as Singaporean of the Year in 2018. Elizabeth completed her Masters in Public Administration from the LKY School of Public Policy and has an undergraduate degree in History. She is also an avid mountaineer having summited 5 peaks above 6000m, and loves traveling to search for the most remote places in the world.

 

Edwin Lee,
Co-Founder

Edwin is a filmmaker and journalist based in Hong Kong. Before starting his own bespoke video production company, Fallout Media in 2012, Edwin previously held positions at Asia Television, South China Morning Post and the Wall Street Journal. He is also the co-founder and Media Director at Sight to Sky. Combining a passion for story-telling and high visual aesthetics, he has produced and worked on many films, short films, TV programmes, documentaries and commercials. However his experience working with charities and NGOs helped direct his creative energies to promote social causes by harnessing the power of media. Edwin also collaborates with fellow charities For Good Company, The Chain Reaction Project, and Mercy Relief.

Interested to Join the team?