THE United Women for Special Children collaborated with Dr Karen Persram’s eye clinic to do voluntary screening of 25 children yesterday at the Wismar Primary School in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice). Organizer of the charitable event and member of the United Women for Special Children group, Ms. Ann Gear, told this publication that once made aware of the plight of the children, steps were taken to do tests on the children and to provide them with spectacles.
She noted that while some of the visually-impaired children had been tested over the years, some upgrade to their eyewear was necessary after the tests were carried out.
“We embarked on this project to see how we can help, so we made contact with the school and (were able to identify) that there were 24 kids between the ages of 5 and 18 who were at various levels of visual impairment; and so we made arrangement with Dr Persram, and she agreed and was very happy to work with us,” Gear highlighted.
Gear said this great partnership between Dr Persram and the United Women for Special Children is offering free services to children who are in need.
“Doctor Persram has donated her services and that of her staff for doing testing and prescribing glasses that the (women’s group) will pay for; and if there are any referrals, we would ensure that they see an ophthalmologist,” she added.
Meanwhile, Dr Karen Persram, in an invited comment, said she was pleased to give her services to these children.
“This is just some voluntary work. I do work for different organizations, and the women’s group asked me to look at this group from Wismar,” she said.
According to her, the children are aware of their impairment problems, but a lot of them are not in possession of the right strength of glasses, while some of them have not been wearing any at all.
“They already knew they have impaired problems, and a lot of them don’t have the correct strength of glasses, and a lot of them haven’t been wearing glasses when they should; so it’s just a matter of doing the screening, seeing who needs glasses, and then arranging for them,” she stated.