Great Ethiopian Run

Join Orbis Ireland on a trip of a lifetime to Ethiopia. We will guide you every step of the way, making it easy to join us on this unforgettable adventure. The trip starts on Thursday, 14 November 2024 and we will land back in Dublin on Thursday, 21 November 2024, with the option to return on Monday, 18 November 2024. Experience life in this fascinating country with traditional dining, entertainment, and excursions included. As part of the Orbis team, we'll handle your hotel, travel, and race entry.

By joining us at the 2024 Great Ethiopian Run, you'll be giving the gift of sight. You will witness Orbis at work in the local community and visit a local school and water station to see how Orbis is making real change in southern Ethiopia.

On Sunday 17 November 2024, over 40,000 people will take to Addis Ababa's streets to participate in Africa's BIGGEST road race, a challenging 10km run. On the day, a huge variety of runners from all age groups and fitness levels participate. A carnival atmosphere takes over the city as the crowd surges forward. Established in 2001 by one of the world's greatest long-distance runners, Haile Gebrselassie, The Great Ethiopian Run is not to be missed!

Since 2009, Orbis has raised almost over €1 million through participating in The Great Ethiopian Run. With your help, we can raise even more money for our sight-saving work in southern Ethiopia.

Part of the trip to Ethiopia is the unique opportunity to visit our work in action in rural communities of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is at the heart of Orbis’s goal to end avoidable blindness. Since 1998, we have partnered with the most impactful and dedicated local organisations and individuals to save the sight of children and adults nationwide systematically.

We are investing in developing rural eye health care systems, capacity building, expanding our prevention and treatment of childhood blindness and integrating eye care into the broader health system.

Central to our work in Ethiopia is eliminating trachoma as part of the World Health Organisation’s goal of global trachoma elimination by 2030. We are conducting sight-saving surgeries, distributing antibiotics to treat infection, educating communities on the importance of facial cleanliness and, with local partners, improving sanitation.

Over the years Orbis has been joined by numerous companies including AerCap, Airbus, Aircastle, AvAir, Avolon, DAE Capital, Google, Orix, PwC, SES, SMBC and Vodafone. This video gives a glimpse of what they experienced.