We’re excited to report that the eye clinic staff at Ekwendeni Mission Hospital recently launched a community eye health scheme reaching out to their catchment area of some 80,000 people. While basic optical services have been available at the hospital for about 15 years, this is the first time they have had the staff and resources to reach out into the community.
They started by staging eye health awareness and education events for local people, most of whom have a poor understanding of eye hygiene and how to deal with infections.
Raising community awareness of the damage done by traditional ‘remedies’ is a big target of this programme. At the same time, they’re getting the message out that the eye clinic at Ekwendeni is open and available for all to get treatment for eye and vision problems. The Raven Trust is contributing towards the on-going costs of this scheme. Many thanks to Sullen Munthali and Ben Mhango for sending us the photos.
