I am putting out a plea for assistance!
My friend Rima (another English teacher) and I are organizing free eye exams for our students. Over the past year, we’ve noticed that many kids struggle to read the board clearly. I remember, when one student, Angelot, actually got up from his front row seat to walk up to the board to read it! The kids all taunted him, telling him to get glasses. Of course, Angelot, and most students in our communities can’t afford the luxury of glasses and corrected vision. I can’t imagine what school would have been like for me if I had never gotten glasses!
The Peace Corps Medical Officer in Cotonou has helped us find an eye doctor willing to give exams. Rima and I are going to screen students using eye charts. All we need are glasses! I’ve already got one donated pair from a departing volunteer. If you could mail any used (but not damaged) glasses, they will be put to good use! The students are aged 10- 18. The doctor will match the glasses to the child, so that they get the closes prescription possible. Our goal is to collect at least 200 pairs of glasses (100 for my post and 100 for Rima’s post). We are basing our project on a similar project executed by former volunteer Betsie Frei in Tobre, where she helped 80 children get glasses. Our schools are much bigger, so the impact could be really huge! Please Help! We want to do this project in November and mail takes about two weeks to get to Benin, so please mail any donations in October if possible!
MAIL DONATIONS to:
Phoebe Guevin, PCV
Corps de la Paix Americain
01 BP 971
Cotonou, Benin
WEST AFRICA
