Lions Clubs International District 105EA

Lions Eye Health Programme

In 1925 Helen Keller the great American advocate for the Blind, urged Lions to become “KNIGHTS OF THE BLIND”  in the “CRUSADE AGAINST DARKNESS”

Since that time Lions have supported many causes which help the Visually Impaired, and they have instigated: -

“The White Cane”

“Guide Dog Schools”

They also currently operate a majority of the Worlds “EYE BANKS”

LIONS SUPPORT SIGHT CONSERVATION PROJECTS ALL OVER THE WORLD AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL THEY ACHIEVE THEIR GOAL OF

ERADICATING PREVENTABLE

BLINDNESSS IN THE WORLD

What is the Lions Eye Health Programme

The Lions Eye Health Programme includes:

• Spectacle Collection
• Operation Cataract
• World Sight Day
• Comprehensive Eye Services (River Blindness)
• Eye Camps

For more information or further expansion of the information contained here please contact District Sight and Lions Eye Health Programme Officer, Lion Derek Prior

Lions Eye Health Programme

The Lions Eye Health Programme is a community based awareness project that will help the people inyour own communities to keep the SIGHT they have.  The idea is to tell people in the “AT RISK GROUPS” what might happen if they do not have regular and proper Eye Examinations.

80% of people who lose their SIGHT lose it needlessly either through ignorance and/or through a lack of screening facilities available.  The majority of people who lose their SIGHT do so through “GLAUCOMA” or “DIABETIC EYE DISEASE” and this could be prevented by early detection.  Regular and proper eye examinations will reduce the risk of loss of vision because the Ophthalmologist will detect any abnormalities during the examination. 

The Lions are trained to participate in this wonderful project and give presentations around their communities where they educate the people of the problems which may occur if eyes are not examined regularly.

Who is in the “AT RISK GROUP”

• People over the age of 40

• People with a Family history of “Glaucoma”

• People who have “Diabetes”

Any Sight lost before the conditions above conditions are detected will be lost forever, that is why it is so important to have regular and proper eye examinations.  The earlier the conditions are detected the sooner treatment can be started and any further loss of sight can be prevented.  

Lions Clubs International has set a goal  and that is, to “eradicate all preventable blindness in the world.”

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Spectacle Collection

What do people do with their old unwanted spectacles?

• Some re-cycle them.

• Some give them to charity shops.

• Some give them back to the opticians.

• Some just keep them in the drawer.

• Some just throw them away.

We can use them to help others to see properly again.

Can you remember the last time you were looking for your old glasses because you had broken or mislaid your regular spectacles?  What a relief it was to find that old pair that helps you to go about your daily routine.  What would you do if the cost of your spectacles were more than a months wages?  I suppose we would put up with what we could see.

Your old spectacles can help so many people in developing countries to become useful members of their communities once again, instead of being a burden to their families and communities.  They can help a person to see again to operate sewing machines, or to manufacture delicate objects etc in order to make a living for themselves and their families.  What is it they say give a man a fish and he can feed himself for a day. If you give hem a pair of spectacles he can catch enough fish to feed his family the rest of his life.

If your Club is involved with spectacle collection, you are doing a great job and please keep up the good work.  If your club isn’t involved with this very worth while project then please consider it.  It will only take up your time and will cost your club nothing financially.

All you have to do is to contact you local opticians and ask them if they will let you have any unwanted spectacles that people give them, maybe they would let you put a collection bin in the shop.  Once you have sufficient to fill a box, you simply contact Parcel Force on free phone 0800 224466 and quote this reference No R233259.

The address to which the spectacles are to be sent is: -

ARTICLES FOR THE BLIND, CHICHESTER LIONS CLUB, THE APULDRAM CENTRE, COMMON FARM, APULDRAM LANE SOUTH, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX. PO20  7PE

Their Website Address is http://www.chilions.org.uk/

Boxes of specs should weigh no more than 10 kilos and the box should be of  strong cardboard please.  A box previously used for 5 reams of A4 paper is ideal (a school or maybe a solicitors practice or perhaps a Doctor's surgery might supply) Alternatively, a box previously containg 6 bottles of wine. (Maybe from a local supermarket?)  It is helpful to show which Club has sent the specs so that an acknowledgement can be sent.

Parcel Force will come and collect the spectacles and deliver them to Chichester lions who then sort them and forward them on to Medico France where they are graded and sent on to the third world countries where they are united with their new owners.

Collecting Bins should be provided by the Lions Club, but Lettering for the collecting bins can be supplied by ChichesterLC, however Clubs may wish to exercise their creative skills for their own labelling

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Operation Cataract

This is a project, which was funded by “Campaign Sight First” for 5 years in conjunction with “The IMPACT Foundation”.  The funding from “Campaign Sight First” was primarily for the hotel costs of surgery out of Normal routine operating conditions.

Operations would be conducted at OFF PEAK times such as weekends when the Operating Theatres are not being used.  Lions would organize the weekend in conjunction with “The Impact Foundation” where the Hospital was available and the Lions would supply the logistics for the duration.

As the medical procedures have changed over the years, the majority of operations are now carried out on a day case surgery basis the need for hotel accommodation is no longer required, but waiting lists are not getting any shorter. 

The purpose of Operation Cataract is to reduce the waiting lists thereby helping your Local Health Authority to reduce their waiting lists and keeping the patients happy.

Although the funding is no longer available from “Campaign Sight First”, “The Impact Foundation” is still very, very keen to keep Operation Cataract going and has funding available for the project.

Why not talk to your Local Hospital Ophthalmology Department and if they are interested call me or contact “The Impact Foundation” direct.

Let us try to help people who have Cataract and are on a long waiting list by talking to the local hospitals to see if we can help.

YOUR SIGHT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND THEIR SIGHT IS IMPORTANT TO THEM.  LET US HELP THEM TO SEE CLEARLY ONCE AGAIN.

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World Sight Day

“World Sight Day” Gives our clubs an opportunity to raise awareness of just how important SIGHT is to us and yet we so easily TAKE FOR GRANTED.

It can also raise PUBLIC awareness of LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL; in your community.  LETS GET INVOLVED.

This years Project Ideas are as follows, and any one of which could quite easily be utilised by your club.

• IDEA 1    Have an Information Table outside a Local Optician and use us as a Central Spectacle Collection, Information Distribution and Booking Eye Appointments.

• IDEA 2    Send the Public Service Announcement / Dear Editor Letter to Local Media.

• IDEA 3    JOURNALIST TO UNDERGO A BLIND “TRIAL” DAY

• IDEA 4    CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION WITH LOCAL NEWSPAPER

• IDEA 5    HOLD A BLINDFOLD WALKATHON

• IDEA 6    LOCAL NEWSPAPER “SENSORY CHALLENGE” COMPETITION

Why don’t you get your club involved with this profile raising campaign and capitalise on the free publicity in the form of “radio broadcasts” around your area in our the District.

If you have not received the information pack or if you would like to know more about it or would like help with a project please do not hesitate to call me.

Let us get involved and make a difference to people’s lives.  If somebody doesn’t know that they have a problem then they can do nothing to prevent complications later in life.  Let us try to get them to understand what might and could happen to them if they ignore the symptoms.

We can also show that EA does lead the way.

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Comprehensive Eye Services (River Blindness)

All over the world people are losing their SIGHT needlessly, because there are insufficient medical centres, not enough trained optical personnel and the fact that the distances villagers have to travel to get treatment can mean many, many kilometres.  Just imagine travelling all that way, probably on foot, when you can see, never mind if your vision is impaired.

If we want to go to the Opticians we simply go down the town, jump in the car or on the bus and we are there in no time.  How about if you had to walk to the clinic, which could be as far away as it is from Cambridge to Manchester, (250 miles approx) probably with guidance of a younger member of the family.

Lions Sight Savers with the help of Sight Savers International arrange for Eye Camps to be set up in areas where they are most needed, and take the medical / optical facilities to the villagers.  Once they are there they will screen upwards of a thousand people and give medication on the spot in the form of creams and ointments to deal with minor eye conditions and infections, which will prevent people losing their SIGHT.  They will then transport patients who need SIGHT saving operations for problems such as TRACHOMA (where the eye lashes turn inwards and scratch the eye ball, resulting in loss of SIGHT) and CATARACT to regional medical centres.  With the CES (Comprehensive Eye Service) there are Education and Training programmes in place for people who have no chance of having their Eye Sight restored, so we are now able to make even more people’s lives happy and more bearable.

The cost of sponsoring an Eye Camp is £250 and for that, around 250 to 300 people will receive treatment of some sort to help them retain, and in some cases regain their precious gift of SIGHT.

If you have never sponsored an Eye Camp before then please consider it, and if you have sponsored an Eye Camp before, why not make it an annual project.  This is definitely a project with a long-term future.  There are 40 Million BLIND people in the world and if we do nothing about it the figure will double by the year 2020.

Every penny we send to Lions Sight Savers will help prevent somebody from losing their Sight.

Just remember this: - When you make an investment, you invest a sum of money for a return in years to come, which will benefit you.

When you make an investment in an Eye Camp, you also invest a sum of money, only this time; it will bring an instant return, which will benefit hundreds of people for the rest of their lives.

Please help the Lions keep their promise to eradicate the world from preventable blindness.

All you have to do is to send a cheque for £250 to the District Treasurer and marked on the back “Eye Camp and your Clubs name”.  You will receive notification of the date and location of the Eye Camp and how many people were treated.

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Eye Camps

All over the world people are losing their SIGHT needlessly, because there are insufficient medical centres, not enough trained optical personnel and the fact that the distances villagers have to travel to get treatment can be many, many kilometres.  Just imagine travelling all that way probably on foot when you can see never mind if your vision is impaired.

If we want to go to the opticians we simply go down the town, jump in the car or on the bus and we are there in no time.  How about if you had to walk to the clinic which could as far away as it is from Cambridge to Manchester (250 miles approx.), probably with guidance of a younger member of the family.

Lions Sight Savers arrange for Eye Camps to be set up in areas where they are most needed, and take the medical / optical facilities to the villagers.  Once they are there they will screen upwards of a thousand people and give medication on the spot in the form of creams and ointments to deal with minor eye conditions and infections.  They will then transport patients who require operations for problems such as Trachoma (where the eye lashes turn inwards and scratch the eye, resulting in loss of vision) and Cataract to regional medical centres.

The cost of sponsoring an eye camp is just £250, and for that, around 250 – 300 people will receive treatment of some sort to help them retain or in some cases regain their precious gift of SIGHT. 

If you have never sponsored an eye camp before then please consider it, and if you have sponsored Eye Camps before, why not do it again.  This is definitely a project where a little goes a long, long way.

Every penny we send to Sight Savers will help prevent somebody from losing their SIGHT

Just remember this: -

When you make an investment, you invest a sum of money for a return in years to come, which will benefit you. 

When you make an investment in an Eye Camp, you also invest a sum of money only this time it will bring an instant return to benefit hundreds of people for the rest of their lives.

Other ways we can help prevent people losing their SIGHT is by donations: -

            £18      restores the SIGHT of a blind child.

            £25      treats 20 people suffering from painful and SIGHT threatening Trachoma.

            £100    buys essential equipment for Eye surgery.

            £250    protects a whole village against River Blindness for a year.

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