The gift of sight from expat opticians

AN expatriate opticians is sending a big thank you to everyone who supported them give the gift of sight to 1,200 people in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Jane Machin from Estepona-based Optica Machin, travelled to Ethiopia to take part in the Vision Aid Overseas Programme to help people with visual problems.

Jane said: “Thanks to the support we received, our team was able to carry out 1,499 eye exams in the two weeks we were there. We dispensed over 1,200 pairs of spectacles allowing adults who have visual problems to continue working, enabling children to study at school and to detect and refer those with eye diseases so that they could receive further treatment.”

She added: “We would like to thank all our friends and clients who have supported Optica Machin in 2013 and look forward to helping you keep your eyes healthy and happy in 2014. 

Jane said that amongst the people they helped were Lakesch, a teacher who has a very high prescription and desperately needed spectacles to be able to read, and Zekledin, a 23-year-old man who had always suffered with poor vision. With a pair of -15.50D spectacles made up especially for him, he could see to the bottom of the chart.

Also helped was Yemata, age 14, who is still at school but had trouble seeing the board. She has been blind in one eye from birth but with her new glasses she now has the best vision possible with her good eye helping her to study. 

Vision Aid Overseas is an international charity dedicated to fighting poverty by transforming access to eye care in developing countries. 670 million people-10 per cent of the world’s population – are disadvantaged by poor vision and a lack of spectacles. One of the poorest countries visited by the charity is Ethiopia.

Jane said: “We would like to wish all our clients a Very Merry Christmas and a  Healthy and Happy New Year and a big thank you to everyone who helped by donating to this project.”

More information at http://www.visionaidoverseas.org.

Or go to talk to the team at OPTICA MACHIN in Estepona or contact them on 952 80 68 13 or visit http://www.opticamachin.com