Optometrists Ruth Perrott and Sarah Dineen arrived safely in Lilongwe on Monday at the start of a 2 week visit to Malawi.

Using spectacles supplied by the Rotary Club of York Ainsty via their Specsort Project, Ruth and Sarah will be testing the sight of the rural poor, especially those who are participating in the village literacy programs organised by Madalitso (www.madalitso.org) .

Presbyopia, or the need for reading glasses usually occurs around the age of 45 in the UK. However in rural, equatorial African countries, presbyopia kicks in at around the age of 30 and this means that many working age individuals are not able to see to do their job, resulting in no income to pay for food, housing, education and medical care for their families. Ruth has witnessed employees pulling their children out of school to read for them, simply because they need reading glasses.

If you have any unwanted spectacles lying around at home, please take them to your local Optometrist with the request that they are shipped to VisionCare Optometry in Acomb.