Following a recent joint initiative to provide children in Uganda with eye tests and glasses, Watford opticians Glasses on Spec and charity Humanity Direct have appealed for donations of equipment and frames.
As part of a drive to check schoolchildren in the country had optimal vision, the charity arranged for thousands of pupils to have sight tests, with the help of an ophthalmologist and four nurses from Mulago Hospital, Kampala. Glasses on Spec produced 300 pairs of spectacles for the children, completely free of charge.
Building on the success of the first initiative, Glasses on Spec and Humanity Direct are aiming to roll out a second programme in the more rural parts of the country where the need for sight testing and care is even greater.
However, auto-refractor rental accounted for a third of the project’s cost, so an appeal has been issued by the charity for a used mobile auto-refractor, a slit lamp and any end-of-line frames and lenses.
Opticians or companies who would like to donate can contact Glasses on Spec’s Will Luff via speclens@yahoo.com or Nick Swift of Humanity Direct using nick.swift@humanitydirect.org.