COVID-19 Update
We started SeeKenya because we saw people with lives needlessly limited because the eye care they needed wasn’t available. Over the years, our pop-up clinics have given thousands of people better vision, and each the opportunity for a better life. Now, with the restrictions on travel and human contact we can’t run our clinics and help people whose opportunities to live well are diminishing fast!
It breaks our heart to see this happening but we won’t stop trying to help, so while we raise funds for a permanent eye care clinic, we are innovating and developing new programmes to improve people’s eyesight and well-being:
Eye Health Information Programme
SeeKenya have put together a series of TV 'infomercials' that are being broadcast on a Kenyan TV channel run by our charity partner, Edfri International.
These videos are reaching millions of people in Meru and the surrounding area, educating them about good personal eye care and hygiene. This will not only improve quality of life by retaining eyesight and preventing sight loss, it will also reinforce the hygiene and safety messages about reducing and preventing COVID-19 transmission. We are now looking into the possibility of creating some additional videos to cover other areas of eye health care.
If you would like to see our infomercial videos, please click here:
Remote Clinics
The second innovative service we are providing is our remote clinics. Our UK-based optometrists (who have run clinics in Kenya) are using technology and our in-country partners to develop patient care, providing expert optometric consultations remotely from the UK. Currently, this service includes support for existing patients who have ongoing prescriptions or have been referred for surgery.
We are also planning a more comprehensive service, where we aim to meet the needs of new patients. Sadly, at this time without a permanent clinic, we do not see a way we can provide spectacles - which restore the sight for so many of the patients we treat.
Long Term Plans -
A Permanent Clinic
Whilst we believe these new services will help, they are simply unable to provide eye care that identifies people's eye health issues and delivers the treatment they urgently need. Therefore, the need for the permanent eye care clinic at Isiome Hope Centre (pictured) - and the money to establish it - is even more pressing!
This permanent clinic will provide the necessary eye care even during the COVID-19 crisis. With the experience of our UK optometrists (who have managed clinics in the UK throughout the pandemic), the clinic's practices will be at the forefront of mitigating the risk of transmitting the virus.
You can find out more details by clicking here:
