Lions Club show vision for the future

Stephen Thane, a student at Creek Infant School, is
checked for sight problems by Dr Elaine Campbell.

Friday,  November 11, 2005  

The Lions Club of Grand Cayman joined forces with the Lions Club of Cayman Brac to bring sight screening to the schools on the Brac.

Dr Elaine Campbell volunteered her time to conduct simple sight tests on all students in Year 2 at West End Primary School and Creek Infant School, and Year 7 students at the Cayman Brac High School, totaling over fifty children.

She was assisted by Lion Leonard Hew, who is project manager for the Lions Club of GC. The club has been facilitating these tests on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac since 1974 and goes into all private and government schools.

Seven ophthalmic doctors volunteer their time, including Dr Campbell, who has helped them for the past 31 years.

“Eighty percent of what a child learns is conveyed through the eyes, so if the vision isn’t good, the child has a harder time learning,” said Dr Campbell.

“We like to catch kids early. Most parents don’t have their eyes checked, either because of the expense or because they don’t know they should,” she explained.

Where a problem is found, the parents or guardians are notified but, unfortunately, parents all too often choose to ignore the advice, remarked Dr Campbell.

The programme not only warns parents if they should make an appointment for their child to see an ophthalmologist, but also saves the expense for parents whose children have perfect vision, she pointed out.

The Year 2 students are targeted because it is important to identify sight problems early on and all kids should be examined when young, said Dr Campbell.

“Some little kids see everything blurry but think that’s how it’s supposed to be. They don’t realize they can’t see properly.”

The Year 7 students are targeted because that is an age where most children have a growing spurt, and sometimes eye problems develop that weren’t there before. They want to identify these in the early stages, she said.

“The hope is that if a child can see, he can be educated properly and become a productive member of the community,” said Dr Campbell.

Brac Lions President Mark Tibbetts noted that the club has always responded to qualified requests for assistance to make an appointment with an ophthalmologist, and have, if necessary, purchased glasses.

In 1925, Helen Keller addressed the Lions International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, in the US. She challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”

From this time, Lions clubs have been actively involved in service to the blind and the visually impaired.

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