Hello and thank you for visiting my page.

Please help support the work of the Akamba Aid Fund in improving the sight of people in rural Kenya.  It was clear from my first trip there in November 2007 that there are significant numbers of people who are affected by visual defects which would be easily treated were they living in the UK.  In four days of eye testing, I encountered a dozen people all of whom were completely blind due to cataract, a situation which is rarely allowed to occur in the Western world.  Many others simply needed a pair of glasses to help them see better, and improve their prospects for work and education.

Money collected though this site will primarily be used to fund cataract operations, which cost as little as £50, but have a profound effect on the life of the sufferer, and those around them.   Funds are also sought to train staff working at the one of the region's major health centres, the Tei Wa Yesu clinic in Gai, in order to allow them to diagnose and treat numerous sight threatening conditions, including trachoma.  The staff will also be trained to test peoples' sight and prescribe spectacles where possible, and in so doing, improve their quality of life significantly.

Each year since 2007 my colleague Ben Williams and I have been out to the region to supply people with spectacles donated via our practices and to refer people with eye disease, and each year we are able to help more people thanks to the generous support of our donors.  To date, we and our team of supporters have tested well in excess of 2000 people, supplied over 1000 pairs of spectacles and referred several hundred for sight-restoring or sight-saving operations.

Our next project is to set up an eye surgery centre in Mwingi, the largest town in the region we work.  Having a surgeon visit the area significantly reduces the complications involved in transporting dozens of blind, frail, elderly people from their rural homes to the chaos of the capital Nairobi.  At present, we have found a suitable location and a surgeon thus we hope that this new service will be up and running by the middle-to-end of 2013.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Akamba Aid Fund will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.  Please bear in mind that Justgiving take 5% commission + VAT for each donation, plus a variable transaction fee depending on the payment method, so please be as generous as you can.

Many thanks for your support.  For more information, please email me at simon.eyeman@tiscali.co.uk .

Simon