16 orphans receive eye care services through First Lady initiative

First Lady Arya Ali overlooking one of the children undergoing an eye examination (Photo: Office of the First Lady/July 23, 2022)

16 orphans of Bless the Children’s Home in Georgetown on Saturday benefitted from eye care screening and examination through a project executed by the Office of the First Lady in partnership with Optique Vision Care.

Bless the Children’s Home is one of the orphanages which benefits from the First Lady’s Adopt-an-Orphanage initiative, which was launched last year and provides a direct link between underfunded orphanages and corporate partners who provide financial and other resources to the homes for six months to a year.

The second round of the Adopt-an-Orphanage initiative is expected to be launched next month and will be expanded to include services and activities which offer personal care and attention to the children in those homes, a press release from the Office of the First Lady on Sunday said.

Ahead of the launch of that initiative, First Lady Arya Ali met with a team from Optique recently where an agreement was reached to have vision screening and eye examination done for the 21 children at the home.

On Saturday, at its MovieTowne location, Optique screened and tested 16 of those children; nine of them will be given spectacles at no cost. The remaining seven children did not require spectacles, the release stated.

Three children were referred to the Ophthalmologist, and five are scheduled to return for further examination on Wednesday, it added.

“Ensuring we provide adequate medical attention to these children is very important because of the simple fact that it is often overlooked. The administration of some of these orphanages already face difficulties in managing them, and when people think of the needs of orphanages, they generally think food and clothing, and not necessarily medical or educational needs,” the First Lady is quoted as saying.

She noted that these kinds of services and activities will be extended to all registered orphanages as time progress.

“This is only the beginning of what we hope will be a massive project. We have already started providing financial support to these homes through corporate sponsors, and now we are adding services which are essential to ensuring our children have a high quality of life,” Mrs. Ali is quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Optique Vision Care, Mr. Dhani Narine expressed how appreciative he was for the opportunity to work on this project and improve the lives of children, the press release said.

“We have a strong CSR [corporate social responsibility] arm which we view as integral to the success of any business and the development of any nation. So we are beyond thrilled to be able to support the improvement of the lives of Guyana’s children,” he is quoted as saying.