CooperVision is a proud sponsor of the international charity Optometry Giving Sight. We are excited to introduce a monthly series of posts from Optometry Giving Sight called “Making a Difference: Real Stories from Optometry Giving Sight.” This series will be about how patients have been given back a life of opportunity with the help of Optometry Giving Sight.
Here is Adrian’s story as shared to us from Optometry Giving Sight:
Adrian swaggers into Mozambique’s Lúrio University eye clinic and slumps in a chair. He gives off an air of bravado and appears to have a certain attitude. At 14, he is the oldest of five children who struggle to survive, living in a one room 5X4 mud-over-bamboo home in a shanty town in Mozambique. Adrian doesn’t have a dad and his mother tries to make ends meet with whatever work she can find.
Adrian’s favorite subjects at school are math, language and social studies, but he finds study difficult and gets bored quickly as he can’t see the chalkboard. He often misses classes as he has to pick up odd jobs to earn extra money for his family.
As Adrian was progressively refracted his vision became clearer and clearer until he was found to have a significant requirement of -7.50DS and -9.00DS. As the lenses were placed into the trial frame his macho act slipped. He became just a 14-year old boy in need of help– and who was seeing clearly for the very first time.
Adrian hopes his new glasses will help him improve in school and realize his ambition of becoming a teacher.
With his level of vision impairment Adrian’s new glasses will transform his life.
Optometry Giving Sight partnered with Lurio University, The International Centre for Eyecare Education, Brazilian Optometric Association and Irish Aid to implement the Campaign for Quality Vision in Mozambique.
Click here to learn more about Optometry Giving Sight and how CooperVision is working with its patients to help make a difference in the lives of patients like Adrian.