Eye Camp – Help2educate Foundation

A vision of supportive Eye Care

There has been an increase in health awareness over the past few years, and it is heartening to see young people making healthier life choices now. However, this has not always been the case. It’s human nature to prioritize family and career over personal needs and wellbeing, and as a result many of our senior communities are reporting health issues caused by years of neglect. In communities that don’t have access to institutional health assistance, this can be a significant issue. As part of our three focus areas of education, employment, and healthcare support, Help2Educate Foundation channeled resources to conduct a free Eye Check Up camp in July 2021. Choosing to start with Bidar District, we identified Mirkhal village in Basvakalyan Taluk as a potential location that could benefit from our efforts.

The decision to conduct the Eye Checkup camp was heavily influenced by the fact that a deterioration in eyesight results in increased dependence on family and community. For people who are already dealing with other age-related problems, issues with eyesight can be particularly difficult. Fortunately, many of these disorders can be corrected to a great extent with proper medication and routine surgeries. This was a catalyst in our decision to provide the maximum impact with limited resources.

Dr Jyoti Somwanshi provided guidance and ensured that the camp was conducted to provide benefits to as many people in the village as possible. A renowned ophthalmologist who specializes in medical and surgical eye care, Dr. Somwanshi evaluated over 150 cases during the camp. The initial apprehension amongst the village elders soon faded away when they realized that the prescriptions and medications would also be provided at no charge. While most of the cases could be treated with medication and home-based support, there were 23 that needed professional medical care. These were referred to hospitals for routine cataract surgeries which would have a huge impact on their vision and immediate quality of life. In most instances the patients would be able to return home on the same day of their procedures.

This was an emotional experience for our dedicated volunteers as well, as they were able to witness the benefits from their actions first-hand. At the same time, it was also a learning experience for the organizers, as they realized that people in this socio-economic section could be easily overlooked by traditional healthcare systems and would need the help and support of organizations such as Help2Educate in bridging this gap.

We were fortunate to have the support of the Panchayat DO (Development Officer) as well as the Panchayat Adhyaksh (head of the Panchayat) during the camp, which reassured the people that such programs would be an integral part of ongoing developmental and healthcare support activities. Along with many other projects that are being planned, this fits seamlessly with the goals of the Help2Educate Foundation, and serves to inspire our efforts in creating a positive impact through healthcare support at the grassroot level.