After having trouble with buses, needing funding for transportation, getting sponsors, visiting numerous schools, and months of planning, a thousand children can finally see.
Around a thousand children in the northern suburbs can finally see after receiving free spectacles from a partnership which was started in Goodwood.
The life-changing event took place when the Merriman Lion’s Club approached VDM Optometrist last year with the idea to sponsor a thousand children’s eye tests and brand-new glasses.
Lion’s Club Goodwood has screened 15 000 children from identified schools in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. The screening is designed to indicate whether a child needs potential further visual management. Children with ocular health problems will be referred to Tygerberg Hospital for further management.
Jamie Conway, president of Merriman Lion’s Club, said she is thrilled about the collaboration between the club and VDM Optometrist. “It’s taken a lot of hard work over the past few months to get here.
Thousands of children were screened under the helpful guidance of Lion Alison, who coordinates the project.” It is a fantastic thing that they are doing for children who otherwise would not have received such assistance or were unaware that they had a vision issue in the first place. I am incredibly proud that the Merriman Lions Club aids the community in this way, Conway said.
Elizma van Milligen, the owner of VDM Optometrists, said she is beyond proud. “At VDM Optometrists we are passionate about children’s eye care, and we are involved in many similar charity projects. Our Youth Month project, however, is my favourite by far. There is such exciting energy on the day, and it is humbling how the local community comes together to serve the children.”
Milligen was introduced to Alison Alexander from Lion’s Club Goodwood last year. Milligen says Alexander herself is passionate about vision and children and suggested that they team up for a visual care day. “We partnered up for a phenomenally successful project in 2021 and decided to make it an annual project.”
On 23 June this year they provided visual care to 1 000 children from underserved schools in the northern suburbs.
“We are grateful to all our sponsors who make this project a reality – Essilor, Just Eyewear, IE Optics, Spectill and Danker,” Milligan says
The problems with undiagnosed visual and ocular health are numerous, she explains.
These children often have poor academic performance. Those who cannot see clearly on the board will copy incorrectly and will fall behind in class. Children who struggle to maintain comfortable vision at near might struggle with reading, eye strain and headaches.
Children with poor vision might struggle to concentrate in class and fidget and disturb other learners. The public health system is under severe pressure since the pandemic. School screening programmes, whether it is optometry, dentistry, audiology, are vital for the well-being of the children in South Africa.
The children arrived at the Merriman Lions Hall. At station 1 they were seen by an optometrist. At station 2, those who need specs will be photographed and uploaded to the cloud. At station 3 they chose their frames.
And then the frames are packaged with their names and placed in a box. They then proceeded to station 5 where they received a small gift of a beanie, bedroom slippers or a mega hug jacket or socks.
Afterwards, they received fruit and a packet of Niknaks. They will then proceed to their bus and return to school.
