Quarter of tested children need glasses
PHILIPSBURG – School children were lining up under a tent in front of the Belair Community Center on Thursday morning – the fourth day of the massive eye testing initiative launched by the Lions Club of St. Maarten for the second time under the slogan Eyes for a Brighter Future.
Project coordinator Lion Davey Woods said that up to Wednesday 1,344 children and 93 teachers had taken the test.
Out of the 1,344 children, 364 – an astonishing 27 percent – needed glasses. “260 Received their glasses on the spot,” Woods said. “For the other 100-plus children their glasses have to come from the United States. They will get them within a couple of weeks.”
Seventeen eye doctors – members of Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity (VOSH) – came from all over the United States and Canada to give a whole week of their time to the free eye testing project. Also, seventeen students from the NIPA nursing program were at hand to assist.
The students did the first round of testing before sending children who needed a more in-depth evaluation on to one of the optometrists.
How do the kids react to the testing? Davey Woods: “It is really, really good. A lot of them are very positive. But the best reaction you will see is when they get their glasses. They are like, wow!, I can see better now.”
For a place crammed with young school children, the Belair Community Center is relatively quiet. Of course, with so much activity going on the place feels like a beehive but there are no screaming kids running around out of control.
Maybe this is because one out of every four children is really looking forward for a solution to her or his eyesight challenges. And for those kids who don’t need glasses there is still a reward at the end of the process where they get to choose a pair of really cool sunglasses.
Albert Hoffman is part of the team of seventeen optometrists that came to St. Maarten for the project.
“The children are amazing,” he says. “They are so well mannered and they answer all your questions.”
How does the eye-condition of the children in St. Maarten hold up against their peers in the United States? Hoffman: “In the United States we have a lot more nearsighted children than we are seeing here. Most of the children are a little bit farsighted. They are really in pretty good shape.”
The doctors executing this project come from all over the United States – as far away as Alaska – and from Canada. They are happy to give their time to the Eyes for a Brighter Future project and to similar projects elsewhere in the world. Dr. Hoffman’s next stop is Romania and in January he will be doing eye tests in Japan.
While the numbers in St. Maarten so far are impressive, Davey Woods says that the target of testing 3,714 children will not be met. “That is due to parents who did not sign the consent form and to peer pressure.”
A couple of years ago, the Lions launched the eye screening project when Woods was the Lions Club president. The very first project of this kind was brought to the island by the Lions in 2001.
The eye screening project began on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. and continued every day until around 4 p.m. Friday is the last day of the second edition of Eyes for a Brighter Future.
Photo caption: Optometrist Albert Hoffman with Lions Davey Woods at the Belair Community Center. Photo Hilbert Haar.
Top photo caption: Doctors take pictures while this girl seems very happy with her new glasses. Photo Hilbert Haar.
Mid photo caption: At the end of the eye testing procedures, school children could choose from a wide array of cool sunglasses. Photo Hilbert Haar.
