Lions Club members are serving as knights of the blind and crusaders against darkness, in keeping with the call by Helen Keller.

In recognition of Blind Awareness Month, the Lions Club of Guyana hosted a one day medical outreach programme Tuesday at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Brickdam. Keeping true to the club’s vision of serving the less fortunate in the community, members of the public provided health services which included blood pressure testing, eye examinations and blood glucose monitoring.

Ms. Roxanne Lucky, Lions Club member, indicated their purpose of promoting sight conservation in Guyana, in keeping with the beliefs of  Helen Keller.

Keller, an American, was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and she is remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities.

In addition to the medical services provided, Lucky told of other activities for the day, including cleaning up around the 1793 Monument (Cuffy Square), and planting two trees in the vicinity of St. Sidwell’s Primary School, as well as donating two cellular phones to the hearing impaired.

Mr. Oswald Younge, another Lions member, referring to the environmental activity planned, said “Guyanese need to be more aware of what is happening in their environment and they need to do more to keep it clean; when we destroy our environment, we destroy ourselves”.
He also mentioned further plans to tackle the issue of plastics and styrofoam littering in Guyana.
Several of those who benefitted expressed their gratitude for the medical services provided by the club, and concurred that it would have otherwise been costly for them elsewhere.
Others expressed the need for more outreach programmes such as this one.
The medical outreach programme was funded by members of the Lions Club of Guyana, in partnership with Len’s Craft Optical, NCN Channel 11, and a number of private entities.