Brien Holden
The following is a personal account from Brien Holden, Optometrist and CEO of Optometry Giving Sight on his recent visit to Africa:
“Emmanuel is a bright and engaging 20-year-old young man who spent three years in first grade at school and two years in every other grade until a teacher sent him to a SightSavers International clinic to have his –16.00D myopia corrected.
“Every year for the next four years he flew through school. When I met him in 2005 he had lost his glasses and for the last two years was back to reliance on other children to see for him. He was labeled a trouble-maker in school because he had to ask his friend what the teacher had written on the board, but really he just wanted to learn.
“The look of overwhelming delight on Emmanuel’s face as his eyes focused with his new glasses will stay with me forever. He always knew he was okay mentally and that the problem was his vision, now with his glasses he can really see his future. Emmanuel wrote a letter to me and to all of us involved with Optometry Giving Sight whose support helped fund the team of Optometrists who visited his village, to say thank you.”
