Take a moment and imagine life without your eyesight. Could you work? Take care of your family? Contribute to your community? Imagine further that it was your son or daughter. What if there were no spectacles, no eye care, no available treatment. A life sentence.

This is the reality for many people in the developing world.

I want to help. In the summer of 2019 I will, along with 11 other optometry students, be travelling to Malawi in East Africa to provide free eye care examinations for thousands of people in communities where access to such care is limited or non-existent. Malawi has only 9 ophthalmologists for a population of 18 million. Imagine the inequality, the advantage wealth provides.

We are aiming to test the eyes of over 3000 people during our month’s stay, providing free spectacles for those that need them.

We will also be screening for common diseases of the eyes and aim to provide life-changing surgery for cataract sufferers. This is the most common surgery within the NHS but most people in Malawi have no access to it.

We also aim to spend time in Malawi’s hospitals, helping to teach some of the techniques we have been learning at Cardiff University. This will help our work continue after we have left.

Your kind donations will contribute towards all our work in bringing clear eyesight to as many people as possible.

Thank you so much for reading this and I promise every donation, small or large, will be equally appreciated.

Many thanks!