Poor South Africans a focus for Porirua optometrist
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
Although the trip will be a ?drop in the ocean?, Porirua optometrist Forum Patel is this week giving vision to some of the world?s poorest people. ?When I give someone glasses here in Porirua they can see leaves on a tree properly, but over there people are seeing their children properly for the first time.? Part of a team of 20 international volunteer optometrists Mr Patel arrived in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Kokstad last week, with the hope of improving the eyesight of 20,000 local people. ?Once word gets around of our arrival there will be queues for miles, tens of thousands of people,? says Mr Patel. Malnutrition and poor health services aggravate eyesight problems for poor people in South Africa. ?Anything that affects the blood will be detrimental for the vision. ?We will be prepared for attending to people there, because 80-90 per cent of the people in the area we are visiting have no health care,? he says The 28-year-old applied for the charity mission one and a half years ago, and is expecting to treat 350 people a day during his two-week stint. The team will give free eye exams, plus new and recycled glasses for up to 20,000 people. ?We have plenty of glasses; all that can make it will get some.? The team was assembled by an American-based OneSight team, and are supported by OPSM. OPSM is asking New Zealanders to donate unwanted glasses through its stores nationwide, because every mission needs 50,000 pairs of recycled glasses, and undertaking 20 per year requires two million donated glasses annually. 250 million people around the world are vision impaired because they can?t access basic eye care services.
