Loading ...Imagine living in a country with 70 million people and only one Optometrist. For many in Ethiopia, this is a reality; but D&A The Opticians hopes to help change this by raising the funds needed to develop a new optical workshop at the Menelik II Hospital in Ethiopia and fill a desperate need for eyecare in Addis Ababa.
D&A’s 400 branch network raised £21, 657 during Fundraising Week and this will go towards the overall fundraising target of £50,000 that D&A has pledged to the ‘Look to the Future in Ethiopia’ campaign. With the money, Vision Aid Overseas will develop a new optometry department at the Menelik II Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s main medical centre.
The new workshop will become a centre of excellence for eyecare in Ethiopia that will allow patients to escape a lifetime of disability caused by poor eyesight. Ethiopia has a particularly acute shortage of qualified optical professionals and manufacturing facilities and the ‘Look to the Future in Ethiopia’ campaign will provide services for thousands of patients a year.
D&A branches across the UK took part in Fundraising Week activities and will continue to take donations in branches until March 2009, when the new optometry department and training of additional staff for the Menelik II Hospital is set to open.
Tym Marsh, Director of VAO, was delighted with the fundraising success: “Current facilities at the Menelik II Hospital are extremely run down and poorly equipped with only one optometrist to help those in need of optical advice and treatment. With D&A’s help, VAO will be creating a centre of excellence where patients can be guaranteed a high level of care, with access to eye examinations and a pair of glasses.”
Everyone can make a real difference to this project by joining in the ongoing fundraising in our local D&A branches. For more information on the Look to the Future in Ethiopia project go to www.dandacharity.co.uk
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