Cork women bring hope to Kolkata streets
Specsavers volunteers recently played a crucial role in supporting 2,414 individuals living in Kolkata’s street and slum communities in India.
Among those volunteers was Marie Burke, an optician and Director at Specsavers Bandon and Ballincollig and Deirdre Moore, Retail Director at Specsavers Ballincollig, Bandon and Wilton.
While volunteering at The Hope Hospital Eye Clinic, they visited local street and slum communities where they provided eye health care to those living on the streets.
During their week-long trip, the team of expert opticians visited eleven locations and gave eye checks to 2,414 patients, dispensed over 1,904 glasses, and in more severe cases, referred patients to Hope Hospital for surgery. For the majority of these people this was their first time ever seeing an optician and availing of basic eye health care.
One of those patients was Clara Halder, a 56 year old community care giver. A passionate reader, in recent years she has struggled with deteriorating vision. What once brought her joy, now brought her terrible headaches. She was overjoyed when she was prescribed glasses and given a pair to take home.
She said: "This is a gift that you cannot possibly understand the value of. This will bring me back my joy, my peace.”
Many individuals treated by Specsavers colleagues had never accessed such services before. Dr Samran, CEO of The Hope Hospital, emphasised the significance of the visit, noting that 90% of cases of blindness could have been prevented if timely treatment was available.
Eight year old Amaira Gulzar was brought to the Specsavers eye clinic where she spoke of sore eyes and headaches. On testing, it was clear that she needed glasses and of a very high prescription.
Amaira had never realised that she couldn’t see clearly, assuming her vision was how all people saw things. On trying on glasses, she was overwhelmed and surprised, not quite believing the clarity she had been missing out on.
Following her visit, Marie said: “This trip has been inspiring. It really showed me that a little goes a long way and it doesn’t take much to change a lot for people. It’s fantastic to think that the work will continue after we have left.”
Deirdre said: “What seems like little work to us, makes such a big difference to these communities.
“What’s really wonderful about The Hope Foundation is that they are working alongside the street communities in Kolkata, and they are changing the lives of everyone in this community. It was a privilege to be there to help them on their journey and to see the benefit of our supports to the hundreds of people we treated.”
At the end of their week-long volunteering trip, Specsavers presented a cheque of €135,000 to founder of The Hope Foundation, Maureen Forrest. This donation will play a vital role in sustaining the eye care clinic.
Maureen Forrest, Founder of the Hope Foundation explains that this programme “is the difference between life and death to people who can’t feed their families”.
“Vision is everything to people and for us to be able to support them in their vision journey is a great privilege.”