The CEO of Sightsavers International visited the Mumbai Eye Care Campaign in Sept 2009 during a trip organised by Sightsavers.
We had originally intended for her to inaugurate a new Vision Centre but this was not possible due to the forthcoming elections (the Chair of the Community Based Organization was involved in politics, and the Electoral Commission believed that an Inauguration could be seen as campaigning in a way that is not in favor of the code of conduct during elections).
During her visit she met with beneficiaries & partners at a vision centre and visited the community at Dharavi and witnessed the MECC Street play.
In her words,
"We visited the Dharavi slum area this morning – the slum where they filmed Slumdog Millionaire and where our SiB sponsored programme is based.We piloted a few Vision Centres first, with Lotus College of Optometry and KBHB hospital as the main partners.With the SiB money we are now scaling up and plan to have 15 vision centres.The centres do simple eye health checks (including intra ocular pressure) and provide refraction services. Reading glasses are provided immediately, other prescriptions can be ordered and can be collected after a few days. Glasses are all new and are provided free of charge for the local community.
Any more serious eye health problem such as suspected cataract is referred to the secondary hospital. The centres are integrated with local services, using eg school buildings at weekends, thereby avoiding the cost of rent or building. They raise awareness in a range of ways, including street theatre – we saw a small group performing, and within a few minutes a large crowd had gathered. After the play many people were asking about the vision centre and how to access services, so it clearly achieves its aims and is more than a diverting entertainment.
We walked through the slum for a while – the area we saw was not as distressing as those I have seen in Dhaka, although we did see some sweat shops (supposedly illegal) making clothes – some of which no doubt finding their way into UK shops."
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