Optometry Giving Sight

One of the key aspects of Optometry Giving Sight funded projects is to help to build the profession in countries that previously had no optometric services, thereby securing a sustainable future for eye care service delivery in those countries. This can be a long and difficult process but the persistence and determination of a bunch of passionate people is beginning to bear fruit in Malawi.

Six pioneering students, now in their third year, are due to graduate as fully qualified optometrists in 2012 and be deployed to regional or provincial hospitals to provide a service that never existed before.

The Schools of Optometry Project is a collaboration between Optometry Giving Sight, the International Centre for Eye Care Education, Sight Savers International, Mzuzu University and Malawi College of Health Sciences. The aim of the project is contribute to the elimination of avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive errors and impaired vision in Southern Africa by the year 2020.

For second year optometry student Ignatius, it has been a life-changing experience.

“The optometry program has provided me with the training I never expected in my life. I am proud of the fact that I am one of the pioneers of the optometry program at Mzuzu University,” he said.

“It has also helped me to change my personal behavior for example, before I joined this program I always had a negative attitude towards low vision patients and I had no knowledge on how to offer help to them. This program has made me change my attitudes - my family and community are looking forward to me helping them in the near future,” he added.

Fellow classmate Leavason has also found that course has given him a new sense of purpose.

“My personality has now changed because I am no longer anyone else but an optometrist trainee, which means my community will benefit from my services, hence no more poverty due to eye problems,” he said. “Though Optometry is a tough course I still believe I will make it, and I want to work hand-in-hand with the public sector so that the prevalence of blindness due to refractive error is minimized.”

By 2014, 40 Optometric Technicians and 17 optometrists will have been trained to deliver primary eye care and refractive services to address the visual needs of people in Southern Africa who currently have no access to eye care.

Top photo: Third year optometry students, courtesy of ICEE
Photo above right: A third year student examines a patient at the hospital, courtesy of ICEE