Clear Vision Guyana donates 300 spectacles to persons in underprivileged communities

Sep 05, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Local eye care company, Clear Vision Guyana has donated some 300 spectacles to persons in less developed communities in an initiative that is said to benefit individuals of all ages.

Founder of Clear Vision Guyana, Rawle Aaron during his address

Guyana Breweries Inc. representative Mikhail Da Silva hands over backpacks and spectacles to some of the lucky recipients

A public statement by the organisation said that Clear Vision Guyana Inc. is a non-profit eye care organisation. They provided the much needed items to persons during the official launch of their ‘Give a Gift of Sight’ initiative which was launched in the Conference Room of the Hermanston Lodge in Queenstown yesterday.

Public Relations Manager, Alex Wayne said that the launch saw three children receiving free spectacles, and backpacks, containing exercise books, and other items as a part of the entity’s humanitarian outreach exercises. Chairwoman, Madonna Allen-Aaron welcomed the gathering noting that the agency’s existence and humanitarian drive operated primarily through donor involvement that has ‘kept the wheel grinding’, over the years.

Clear Vision’s person spokespersons Onika Gentle expressed her pleasure to be associated with the entity; citing that in 2021, they had several outreaches to riverine and outlying communities that were well received by residents. She said that areas in the Lower Pomeroon District were targets, and they were able to reach out to over sixty persons to provide eye care services and spectacles, on each occasion.

Gentle noted that just recently, the agency embarked on a similar outreach in New Amsterdam and Berbice, collaborating with other entities where they tested and screened over seventy residents. She said that the consultations are currently ongoing to have beneficiaries fitted with their corrective lens, spectacles, and other eye care needs. Gentle added that while the present, ‘Give a Gift of Sight’ campaign caters for eye care for some three hundred person, “It is the organisation’s aim to increase these numbers in the very near future.”

Overseas-based Optometrist and Eye care Specialist, Desiree Carson in her presentation educated the audience in the areas of eye care neglect. She said that while there is a high percentage of eye disease recorded in the USA, the Caribbean in many cases have been matching and even surpassing in the areas of Glaucoma, Cataract and a few other eye ailments. She continued that in many cases, the lack of education in the area of eye care would have led to the increase of neglect.

Clear Vision founder, Rawle Aaron noted that the launch was also initiated because surveys have shown that for the year 2022, there has been an alarming increase in persons needing eye care in communities, around Guyana. He said that information gathered from outreach exercises, would have proven that in numerous cases, persons are unable to obtain much needed eye care services because of financial constraints. This was one of the main reasons that the organisation has embarked on taking eye care outreaches to under privileged communities. Aaron explained that the ‘Give a Gift of Sight’ Eye Care Initiative is particularly targeting children needing eye care in schools as well. He said that a previous Outreach Initiative dubbed Humanity First Guyana revealed that much emphasis is not placed on eye care in many areas, resulting in high levels of eye ailments/diseases.

Aaron noted therefore, that his organisation will be distributing the spectacles and it will be spearheading several other projects geared at educating people on eye care. Saturday’s launched was made possible with support from the Guyana Breweries Inc., Hermanston Lodge, Health Hut, Argosy Book Store, Survival Supermarket, VHNS United, Muneshwer’s Travel Service, and Diamond Optical.