SeeKenya: Opening Eyes to a Better Life
In October, our locum Optometrist Louise spent a rewarding few weeks providing eye care services, including eye examinations and spectacles, to a community in Kenya. She was supporting the registered charity SeeKenya, who provide trustworthy, high quality and life-improving eye care.
Their challenge is to prevent blindness, restore sight, and improve eye health in the communities that need it most in Kenya. They do bi-annual trips to Kenya with volunteers like Louise, who provide full eye tests, which can help identify health related illnesses such as Diabetes and HIV. Early detection of such illnesses can result in life-saving treatment being provided. The Optometrists can also provide medication for infections, inflammation and glaucoma; they also endeavour where appropriate to refer and pay for necessary surgery.
At the Isiome Hope Centre, a dedicated lens glazing lab has been established. This means that single vision prescription glasses can be made up and issued within 1 hour of an eye test – compared to a one-month wait in the rest of Kenya. During Louise’s trip, they were able to provide a child (who’d never worn glasses before!) spectacles with a -12.00DS prescription. This proves just how life-changing the work that SeeKenya are doing really is.
For more stories and ways to help SeeKenya, please visit their website using the button below.
