Their vision is still to restore people’s vision

Children across the world struggling with their eyesight are still reaping the benefits of one man’s vision to make a difference in their lives.

Koen van Pottelbergh, an optometrist from Belgium, and his team from Eyes For The World (EFTW), a non-profit foundation he started, has one goal in life - to help improve people's eyesight. He and his team were first welcomed to the Soutpansberg by Louis Trichardt’s Agora Club Amarula ladies in April last year. In partnership with their sister club in Belgium (Agora Lokeren Belgium),  they invited Koen as part of an international support project.

During the EFTW team’s visit last year, Agora Club Amarula tested 1 068 children and gave out 120 sets of spectacles from EFTW. Coupled with this, Sanrie du Plessis from the local Specsavers branch also bought into this project and subsequently provided 15 children with prescription glasses for eye problems ranging from astigmatism to more serious eye conditions such as keratosis.

The EFTW project entails testing children’s eyes and giving them a pair of spectacles if needed. But these aren’t just ordinary spectacles. They are the product of years of research and development, allowing Koen and his team to hand each child in need thereof a pair of spectacles within five minutes after testing starts – at no charge and with no waiting period to have the spectacles made. For this purpose, Koen makes use of adjustable spectacles (Adspecs) or focussed spectacles (Focusspecs). These spectacles were specifically developed for this project. With the Adspecs, high-quality silicone gel is pumped in between two durable plastic membranes. It allows for 50 optical variants, all possible in one pair of spectacles. Focusspecs, on the other hand, make use of an adjustable slide lens system whereby two lenses are slid across each other to the required magnification.

Following Koen’s visit last year and a promise to return to the region, much has happened to give the project momentum worldwide. The successful teamwork between Agora Club Lokeren (who fundraised for this project), Agora Club Amarula (who carried out this project in Elim last year) and Koen and his EFTW team, inspired Veerle de Jonge from Agora Club Belgium and Sandy van Niekerk from Agora Club South Africa to motivate this project as an Agora Club International Project. The teamwork between these three parties also inspired Agora ladies from 18 other countries to adopt this project and start raising funds to help children in underprivileged countries.

As conveners of the Agora EFTW project, both Veerle and Sandy have been inspired by the overwhelming support. Subsequently, Agora Club Morocco held a very successful project where they screened over 1 000 learners and handed out 250 pairs of focusspecs with the help of Agora Club International countries, who raised the necessary funds. Agora Club Madagascar has also recently screened learners and identified those with eyesight problems. They now await a visit from the EFTW team. Closer to home, Agora Club Botswana is next in line and will be screening children in September when Koen and the EFTW come back to Africa and to the Soutpansberg.

Agora Club Amarula has, however, not rested on its laurels while awaiting the EFTW team’s return to the Soutpansberg. On 10 May they visited the Tshiitwa Secondary School in Mashamba, where they screened 135 learners. Sanrie and Specsavers co-worker Patrick Muleya again joined the Agora ladies. Through this project, 12 learners received focusspecs on site, while 15 have been diagnosed with astigmatism and one with keratosis. These children will soon be issued with spectacles. They were also able to help three children with serious eye infections by providing them with the medication and ointments  

“A huge thank you must go to the principal of Tshiitwa Secondary School Mr Ramusilei, as well as educator Mr Mashamba, for receiving us so well and for the obvious care and interest they take in the wellbeing of their learners. This project would also not be possible without the support of the Limpopo Department of Education and Mrs Nelly Tklakula, as well as with the amazing support of Sanrie and Patrick from Louis Trichardt Specsavers,” said Sandy.

News - Date: 20 May 2016

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]