CANADIAN VISION CARE
GIVING NEW SIGHT
by Sarah McGoldrick
FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS A
GROUP OF CANADIAN EYECARE
PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN MAKING
THEIR WAY TO JAMAICA AND
OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
THEIR MISSION – TO BRING EYECARE TO AREAS OF THE WORLD
MOST IN NEED.
This year the group set up a clinic
in Montego Bay at a church just
outside the city centre.
Optical Prism was able to join CVC
this year to witness how a team of
just a few volunteers can help more
than a thousand people see better.
Each day the team travels by bus to
the clinics. Depending on the area
the drive can be 20 minutes to an
hour or more.
hurriedly work to set up fans
around the room. This will be the
only source of cool air for the next
few hours.
With a van loaded up with equipment,
eye solutions and frames the team
winds their way through the busy
Montego Bay streets. Wearing their
trademark red shirts, the team arrives at the cream coloured Seventh
Day Adventist church shortly
after 8 a.m.
Stations are set up around the room
similar to a hospital triage. Equipment is laid out carefully to ensure
an orderly exam for each resident.
Under the main entrance, one of
the local residents has set up a small
tv tray and cooler with drinks and
snacks to help feed residents as they
wait their turn.
Inside the dimly lit hall are rows
and rows of school children dressed
in their colourful uniforms waiting
patiently as their teachers carefully
kept an eye on them.
The temperature in the room is
already well &