EYE Care Awareness Month, annually observed in October, was marked with success by the Musgrave-based NPO Bright Eyes Trust which surpassed its target of 2000 free screenings for 2025.

Under the banner of its Bheka Eye Care Project and in partnership with optometrist Elmarie Grendele from Family Eye Care, the Trust excelled, completing 2320 free eye screenings for young children in need. The co-founder and centre co-ordinator of Bright Eyes Trust, Carron Strachan, said their latest drive was at Fulton School for the Deaf on Tuesday.

“At one point we did not think that we would be able to reach our target of 2000 free screenings and we are pleased that we have gone past that figure,” said Strachan. “This work would not be possible without our incredible optometrist, Elmarie. It was a huge undertaking with lots of travelling, especially with the Domino Foundation, but we are not done yet.”

The Bheka Eye Care Project was launched by the organisation in 2020 with the aim of detecting vision disorders early in children as young as six months old. It enables early intervention and provides training to parents, caregivers, and educators on techniques to ensure optimal development in children with vision difficulties.

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Strachan said, “We are not done yet, we still have thousands more screenings to do with the Domino Foundation. We have our work cut out for us. I’m very proud of the Bheka team, they really pushed this project. We are already looking forward to next year, where our target will be 5000. So we are urging organisations and school that want to be part of the initiative to reach out to us.”

The screenings are done via an automated device which enables the organisation to screen large numbers of children quickly. Grendele said the autorefractor detects if children need glasses or not, if they have cataract or any other eye conditions that need immediate care. “Using the autorefractor is a quick process and it does not affect the children. The machine focuses on the child’s eyes and generates information which then gives us a prescription. It also tells us per age group if the prescription is normal or if the child needs a referral. Once the referral is done, we do our manual testing if needed,” said Grendele.

The Bheka Project works hand-in-hand with the NPO’s paediatric support project that operates out of McCord Provincial Eye Hospital. Grendele encouraged parents and caregivers to have children’s eyes tested regularly.

“Up until Grade Seven, every child must have their eyes tested at least once a year and after that you can do every two years,” said Grendele. “Our practice specialises in working with children; we work with a few non-profit organisations such as Bright Eyes and Seed Fund as well as schools, which helps with early detection among children in need.”

For more information on the Bheka Project and how your organisation and school could be part of the initiative, contact the Trust on 031 201 1951.

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