MCB Seychelles, Lions Club elderly vision project reaches milestone 100% coverage on Mahé |25 October 2022
Lions of Seychelles,with sponsorship of the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), Optic Seychelles, department of the elderly and disabled and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Family hosted a ceremony at the Anse Royale home for the elderly to hand over a final batch of 27 free prescription glasses to the invitees from the Anse Boileau and Au Cap homes.
This ceremony was the last of numerous similar donation events to hand over spectacles to the residents of the seven elderly homes on Mahé.
Out of 96 elderly residents of the homes on Mahé who have had their eyesight screened, 65 of them needed new prescriptive spectacles.
The initiative has therefore reached its target of screening 100% of residents of the seven elderly homes on Mahé namely Plaisance, La Retraite, English River, Pointe Larue, Au Cap, Anse Boileau and Anse Royale. The project was being led by Lion Dharam Vir Sharma with the support of his Lions Club president, Lion Club of Seychelles champion Nur Alam, Lion Divya champion Seychelles Centennial Women Lions Club, and Senior Lion champion A K Singh.
The project was aimed at improving the quality of vision to reduce unnecessary strain on our seniors in performing daily activities while improving their mobility and allowing them to remain independent.
Lion Sharma shared a heartfelt message of appreciation to MCB for being the main sponsor of this project and to Optic Seychelles for performing the free screening.
His sentiments were further echoed by the regional champion Seychelles, Lion Sasi Senthil Kumar, who then read a message from Lions Club regional chairperson in which he expressed his pride in the work being done by the dedicated Seychelles Lions families in support of our elderly residents.
On behalf of the department for the elderly and disabled within the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Family, director general Rosa Morin expressed her gratitude to all three organisations for their committed efforts and invited all the residents to maximise the benefits from their improved eyesight.
MCB Seychelles’ marketing and communication manager Elaine Derjacques followed through with a short message to the invitees, further reaffirming MCB Seychelles’ commitment towards the more vulnerable members of our community.
Ms Derjacques explained that the project had been delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions but rejoiced that the milestone of 100% coverage for Mahé was attained before the end of 2022.
The residents expressed joy and gratitude after receiving their new glasses. Most residents mentioned that their current spectacles were causing discomfort and that the new glasses would provide some welcome relief.
Mr Dorizo, a traditional artisan, was one of the recipients and he explained that an improved eyesight would surely help to maintain his livelihood. The residents eagerly expressed their appreciation through tokens prepared by themselves for all sponsors and Mr Hoareau, an Anse Royale resident proudly handed over three skillfully made decorative ‘Balye Zig’.
The elderly vision project is now being extended to the Praslin and La Digue’s elderly homes with a tentative target date of end October 2022 for the completion of screening.
Contributed