The inauguration of the ICU2 Foundation Eye Camp, hosted by the St Mathew’s High School and Junior College, took place this Monday morning, March 27th, 2023.
Located in the densely populated, underserved community of Malwani in Malad West, the St. Mathews’s School, under the leadership of its headmistress, Ms. Larzy VARGHEES, welcomed the honored guests: Mr Christopher Hunter and Dr. Maja Hunter, respectively President and vice-President of the ICU2 Foundation; Dr. Amulya SAHU, founder and president of the SAHU Eye Hospital; Dr. Narayan AB, of the Indian Development Foundation ; and Mr. Sreeraman Ramanathan, CAS Coordinator at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai (DAIS); and a team of 8 optometry students from Lotus College of Optometry and Eye Hospital in Juhu. More than 20 year-11 students from DAIS joined the eye camp to work alongside their peers from St. Mathew’s to screen children for vision problems.
Once through the registration, the children were measured for height and weight with a subsequent calculation of their BMI in order to detect nutritional deficiencies. They then proceed to have an initial vision screening using standard Snellen charts at 3-meter distance conducted by the DAIS and St. Mathew’s students. From there, the children were sent on to the optometry students who tested them for a variety of eye problems, such as color blindness, stereopsis or depth perception, convergence and normal eye development. The students from DAIS and St. Mathew’s conducted further vision screening using the ClickCheck developed by the Essilor NVG 2.5 Division.
Additional innovative devices, such as the AI Optic Autorefractor and the Forus Aberro Autorefractor completed the possibilities for giving the children a thorough eye exam. The Lotus team then refracted children presenting a need for a corrective vision refraction and prescribed spectacles for those needing them. Children were then able to choose a pair of frames in a variety of shapes and colors to suit their taste. The spectacles will be manufactured by the Essilor team and then delivered by the St. Mathew’s and DAIS students in about 14 days. A small number of children were referred to the Lotus Eye Hospital for further examination and will be transported there under the auspices of the St. Mathew’s School.
For the day, following the inauguration, a total of 517 children were screened, 37 were prescribed for spectacles and a further 13 were referred to Lotus Eye Hospital for further examinations.
