There are 3,193 children with disabilities aged 10-20 years of age in Kurunegala central Sri Lanka with a population of 546,437. This accounts for 1.71% children with varying disabilities. 1.1% of the population are blind over the age of 40.There is only one eye surgeon for every 229,885 persons on the island.There is an inadequate supply of spectacles for children, inadequate financial resources available for eye care services, inadequate school screening which is sporadic, predominently in cities not in rural areas and does not cover children with disabilities.

After a recent adult eye camp (January 2019) for 150 adults with disabilities, 90 of those identified required glasses, 18 urgent cataract operations and 8 were blind. The disability profile of people with disabilities in 2002 defines that 16% had visual impairments but in rural areas from our recent findings this rises to 77%, hence the urgent need to support children with disabilities.

This is a fantastic collaborative working project which unites the Beacon Centre, a registered leading sight loss charity in the UK, along with two hospitals, and also Chapmans Opticians who are all kindly collecting childrens glasses which will be recycled and shipped out to the Manapaha Foundation who are a registered charity in Sri Lanka.

Donated funds are very much needed to fund the 10 eye camps required for 1,000 children with disabilities. This will be organised through the Manapaha Foundation (led by Rev. Ragama Sugathananda Thero) under guidance of the district government office of Kurunegala. This project will benefit many children who otherwise would not have the opportunity of improved life chances socially, emotionally, educationally and economically.

Every £1,000 helps 200 children receive prescriptive glasses and donations will be used for eye camps on every £1,000 raised throughout the year with updates displayed on Manapaha facebook page.

Manapaha Foundation has past history of successfully delivering eye camps for over three thousand people over a three year period into the communities for adults and children of different faiths and has supported over 90 people identified through eye camps with cataract operations and further support from the Lions Hospital Colombo.

The Beacon Centre has been hugely instrumental along with Chapmans Opticians in supporting with thousands of recycled glasses over this period. Previous crowdfunding inititatives have occurred to enable these eye camps to take place so that prescriptive glasses can be issued through Vision Care in Sri Lanka using the recycled frames. The cost of prescriptive glasses would cost the equivalent of one weeks wages in Sri Lanka.

Rebecca Foley is Patron of Manapaha Foundation for the past three years and co -ordinates the UK support and has self funded visits to volunteer and see the eye camps first hand. Friends and family have helped considerably in a range of events to help make past achievements possible. Any one is welcome to fundraise for this worthy cause which is very gratefully appreciated.

Please visit our website www.manapahafoundation.org.uk (visit our gallery section on the bottom of our homepage for videos of past eye camps).

www.facebook.com/manapaha

Other world report on vision useful links

http://www.cosl.lk/vision_2020.html

Causes of childhood blindness in Sri lanka Country Profile on Disability

Validation below of past eye camps and support.