Exploring the mission of Shades of Love: An Interview with the Co-Founder, Niklas Huppmann
We sat down with Niklas Huppmann, co-founder of Shades of Love, to learn more about the incredible impact the organisation is making in some of the most remote parts of the world.
Shades of Love is the world’s leading non-profit dedicated to eyesight protection in high-altitude regions. Their mission is to prevent and treat ocular diseases by providing UV-protective sunglasses and facilitating access to essential eye surgeries in communities where such care is not accessible.
At SunGod, our mission 'See Better' aligns with Shades of Love’s purpose. Since our partnership began in 2021, we’ve donated over £18,000 and 5,000 pairs of sunglasses to support their life-changing work, and we’re only just getting started.
Introduction and Inspiration Behind Joining Shades of Love
“I think the day-to-day is absolutely spectacular to me. It's the best job in the world."
Niklas’ began his journey with Shades of Love at 16 years old, when he spotted a poster in his local coffee shop in Germany. The project had been founded by Jürgen Altmann, who was inspired during a sabbatical in India, where he began collecting discarded sunglasses from friends and family to donate to people living in high-altitude communities.
From that moment, Niklas knew this was more than a project, it was a cause worth dedicating his time to. Together with Jürgen, he helped transform Shades of Love from a project into a world-leading non-profit organisation making a lasting difference.
The Impact of High-Altitude Living on Eye Health and How Shades of Love Educates Communities
In remote regions of the Himalayas and the Andes, Indigenous communities live at extreme altitudes between 2,500 and 6,500 meters. At these heights, the thinner atmosphere offers little protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays, even on cloudy days. This results in up to 80% of people in these areas suffering from eye diseases, blindness, or even ocular cancer in their lifetimes. Many begin losing their vision before the age of 30.
To combat this, Shades of Love embark on two distribution trips each year, delivering free UV-protective sunglasses, facilitating life-changing eye surgeries, and running education camps in some of the world’s most inaccessible places.
“Half the people already have it. If you go to these areas, one in two already has an eye disease"
The work Shades of Love does goes far beyond handing out sunglasses. As Niklas tells us, education is a pivotal component of their impact. Shades of Love approaches this through three key strategies:
1. One-on-One Community Engagement
Focusing on face-to-face conversations during distribution trips is not only the most common form of engagement, but also the most hands-on and easiest way to connect with local communities.
"We rent motorcycles...strap on a two-and-a-half-litre duffle bag full of sunglasses.. spotting farmers, villages, community or nomads that you then approach...taking your time to both explain, fit and also chat, learn about their experience"
Niklas himself has picked up local languages like Balti and Nepali to better connect with villagers, but pointed out that these communities already understand the issue deeply.
"They've seen their grandmas develop eye cancer, they've seen their mothers not being able to work in the field because of a cataract that they developed. They're much bigger experts in what this is, so often the education path we do more, how do you wear sunglasses, how often and on what occasions, and whether it's cloudy or sunny"
2. Eye Education Camps
Beyond one-on-one conversations, Shades of Love also hosts larger eye education camps, often held at local schools. These events bring in both local health workers and doctors, particularly from Germany, to educate entire communities at once.
"We set up these events where we have our expert staff, through a translator, explain all of this to an audience of hundreds, if not thousands"
3. Coordinating Surgeries and Providing Post-Operative Support and Education
Shades of Love aims to connect with local hospitals and clinics before and during their visits to coordinate and support surgical procedures. They also provide post-surgery support and education to ensure long-term care and recovery.
“Once someone receives surgery, we explain that sunglasses aren’t just a one-time gift, they’re part of the recovery and prevention process. They need to be worn for life, every time you're outside”.
Through these approaches, donation, education, and medical support, Shades of Love aims to educate and empower communities to protect them for generations to come.
Inside a Distribution Trip: Where Shades of Love Travels and What the Journey Looks Like
Since launching Shades of Love, Niklas and his team have travelled to some of the world’s most isolated regions, including Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Nepal, India and recently, Kyrgyzstan, with plans to expand into Afghanistan and even the Arctic.
A team of volunteers travel by motorbike, chosen for its ability to access hard-to-reach mountain villages and winding valley trails. They pack thousands of pairs of sunglasses into duffel bags, then set out each morning to reach new communities.
“We start around 8 a.m. and ride until 6 p.m. From the bike, you’ve got this incredible 360-degree view. You can spot farmers in the distance, see small villages, or spot nomadic yurts. That’s when we stop.”
With every stop comes a new connection. The team opens up their bags and begins distributing sunglasses, not just handing them out, but fitting each pair properly and explaining their importance.
“You take your time. You check if they fit. You don’t want to give a child a pair of adult sunglasses, they won’t wear them, and then the impact is zero... It’s about listening, educating, and connecting.”
By the end of a single trip, the team can distribute 4,000 or more pairs of sunglasses, depending on the group size.
During distribution trips, a key part of their mission is to also build connections with local hospitals, eye doctors, and monasteries to create a sustainable support network to make a long-term impact on communities that extends well beyond the trip.
"..to build up relationships that we can use for storage facilities, or to get to know the doctors that can do cataract surgery in the local area, so we can coordinate..."
How Communities Respond to Receiving Sunglasses
While every region is different, Niklas reflects that each place tends to have similar reactions to them.
“I would say 90% of the encounters are quite similar... we rock up and we distribute sunglasses and it's pure joy. They know what we're doing. They get it, they take their time, and usually that ends up in us being invited for tea or for dinner even.”
But not every encounter is simple. In more isolated villages, the arrival of foreigners can initially cause unease. Niklas and other Shades of Love volunteers have learned to read the room and develop what he calls “community intelligence”, a gut instinct built up over years of travel.
Fortunately, the majority of encounters are positive. One particularly memorable experience for Niklas occurred during a visit to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, where the team encountered a family having lunch. An elderly woman in her eighties approached them slowly to learn more.
“She started tearing up...she was telling me how important it is for her to have her children, to get the sunglasses, because she had a husband who had that cancer and couldn't work in the field anymore, and so she had to provide for the family."
It's in these moments that Niklas demonstrates the impact of Shades of Love is not just about eyewear, but it’s about dignity, livelihood, and the ability to keep providing for one’s family.
A Surprising Discovery: The Culture of Nomadic Communities
Over the past decade with Shades of Love, Niklas has encountered many remarkable people, but he highlights the nomadic communities of the Himalayas as some of the most interesting and inspiring.
"They migrate seasonally from meadow to meadow, setting up clusters of tents that can house anywhere from 20 to 50 people. Remarkably, many tribes have developed their own distinct languages, preserving their cultural identity over centuries."
"You would think over time with the perjury of Buddhists or Indians that happened hundreds of years ago, but over that time they kind of develop their own, I'd say, or preserve their own life, and it's so unique. So the resilience that they have and the way they protect their culture and their way of life, to me, that was surprising"
What stands out even more is their openness to engage despite their isolation. Niklas explains:
"They're very open to strangers, they're so isolated, so they really cherish moments where they have someone talk to them about things or show them photos"
How can you help?
As a non-profit organisation, Shades of Love relies heavily on community support to continue its mission.
The most impactful way to contribute is through monetary donations or the donation of sunglasses.
A simple way to do this is to shop our Limited Edition Shades of Love Charity Microfibre design here. For every microfibre purchased, we will donate £4 to Shades of Love.
Supporters can stay engaged by following Shades of Love on social media or visiting their website: www.shadesoflove.org, where updates, upcoming events, and fundraising opportunities are regularly shared.
