By Melitta J. Cutright

Lions Clubs International and Lions in Mali marked Lions World Sight Day (LWSD) in Bamako, Mali, on Oct. 12-13.  Lions leaders met with government officials to discuss the importance of eradicating preventable blindness, organized a major vision screening and toured the African Institute for Tropical Ophthalmology (IOTA)--the premier eye hospital and training institute in West Africa.  The Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) and the Lions of Mali fund IOTA, which trains ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses from Mali and many other countries in West Africa.

“We selected Mali for this major event because more than two million people in sub-Saharan Africa are blind and the rate of blindness is 10 times that of northern countries,” said Lions Clubs International President Jimmy Ross.  Major causes of blindness in Mali include cataract, trachoma and glaucoma.  A large percentage of the population does not have access to vision care; it’s estimated that there is one ophthalmologist and one cataract surgeon for every one million people and one ophthalmic nurse for every 450,000 people in West Africa. 

“We also selected Mali because it is the home of a group of very energetic and committed Lions who have provided great service to the people of their country,” Ross continued.

Lions in Mali, working in cooperation with the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation, a Luxottica Group Foundation, organized a vision screening that reached 29,000 children and adults between Oct. 11-20.  Residents of Bamako and the surrounding area were given free eye exams and those who needed eyeglasses were fitted with recycled eyeglasses.

Amadou Toumani Toure, the president of the Republic of Mali,  joined with President Ross to launch LWSD activities.  President Toure commended Lions for their outstanding service in Mali and around the world.  Together, the two presidents officially opened the vision screening.

More than 1,000 adults and children were referred for follow-up care at IOTA.  “We found a three-year-old child who could not see because of cataracts,” said Lion Mama Tapo, who, along with a committee of Lions, organized the LWSD events and coordinated the vision screening with the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation.  “With treatment at IOTA, this child will see again.  We found an 18-year-old who had lost most of his sight because of glaucoma.  The experts at IOTA will help him maximize the low vision that he still has.  And we provided eyeglasses to a schoolteacher who had never had her vision tested.  She was very excited because now she could see her students and grade her papers much better.”

“I’m delighted that through this important cooperative effort we were able to assist so many people in Mali,” said Ross.

Media in Mali provided extensive coverage of LWSD activities. A video prepared by Lions Clubs International that spotlighted the activities of Lion in Mali and all of Africa was shown on television throughout Mali.  In addition, Ross and African Lions leaders conducted a press conference that was attended by all the major media in the country where they discussed how Lions are helping to meet the needs of people in Africa and around the world.

Clubs Mark LWSD
Each year Lions clubs worldwide hold local activities in October to educate their communities about the need to conquer blindness and preserve sight. Activities include vision and diabetes screenings, community education programs and eyeglass collections.

This year the Fairhope Lions Club in Alabama asked local mayors to issue proclamations recognizing LWSD.  The Alabama Lions Sight Mobile Screening Unit conducted screenings for glaucoma, vision, hearing and high blood pressure and Lions collected used eyeglasses for recycling.  The Canyon Lions Club in Texas collected 1,065 pairs of eyeglasses.  The Lions Club of Grand Cayman, the Hornsby Inc. NWS Lions Club in Australia and many other clubs around the world also collected eyeglasses for recycling.

The Bozeman, Montana, Lions Club held a fund-raising event for Campaign SightFirst II and more than 400 Lions gathered in Village-Neuf, France, to raise funds for the campaign.

The Lions Club of Bangalore North in India also arranged for the post office to issue a special World Sight Day postal cancellation for all mail sent from the general post office in Bangalore on Oct. 12.