Tamanna went to C.L. Gupta Eye Institute (CLGEI), an Orbis partner, when she was identified with refractive error in one of the outreach camps that was conducted by the hospital. She had difficulty while reading books; prolonged reading led to headaches. She was troubled but her family never managed to understand that she was facing an eye problem.
Tamanna's Story
The Power of Spectacles
In fact her father, Aqil, was surprised to know that his daughter had spectacle power. There are many other parents like Tamanna’s who are unaware of eye problems in children. Orbis programs in partnerships with hospitals like CLGEI aims at making communities aware about child eye health, the problems children can face at such a young age and how to overcome them.
Various factors often discourage families of children to access care. For instance, Aqil’s monthly income was a little over Rs. 3000 (approx. $46). He had the responsibility of providing for the family alone. It was difficult to make ends meet. So, even if Tamanna might have shown visible or detectable signs of having vision problems, there are chances that her father would probably feel that care for his daughter was not within reach.
The screening camps are conducted so that children are identified early on. Although Tamanna was identified at the age of 14, yet the program helped not only her but Aqil too – he became aware of the fact that children could have eye problems and needed care in the form of spectacles to correct their vision.
Soon after Tamanna got her pair of glasses, her father understood the importance of it and felt really happy that now his child could see clearly. So was Tamanna happy? Of course she was!
