LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

A campaign towards blindness world

By Preeti Subba

KATHMANDU, Jan. 12: 'We Serve'. It is not a motto but also an objective that Lions Clubs all over the world are carrying on with endless services in almost every aspect of human life.

Lions Club of Kathmandu-Sukunda (LCKS), one of 250 such clubs in the country, has chosen Kagati Village of Okharpouwa VDC in Nuwakot as one of its core areas to render services and to make the local people realise what 'service' means in life.

When Uttam Raj Kayastha, Charter President of LCKS, visited the village in 1997 to observe 'assemblage child marriages', he was appalled by the social and economic conditions of the villagers. He made up his mind to do something for the villagers and started a Lions Club in February 1999.
Since its very inception all the 20 members of the Club remained dedicated to uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the people by turning it into a model village.

The club started working for providing the basic needs for the people. The first lesson they learnt was "everything is possible if they unite their efforts".

The club has been involved in various social service activities - it has constructed a water supply project for Shree Bhawani Primary School, nutrition programme for the children and distributed clothes to the poor and the destitute that were received as donation from Japan.

Another successful project of LCKS in Kagati village is 'Sight First' programme. The club has joined hands with Lions Clubs International's Clobal Blindness Prevention Programme to eliminate reversible and preventable blindness. The Sight-First programme has dramatically reduced the preventable eye diseases among children and old people. Last year about 100 people were operated for cataract.
The LCKS opened a fully equipped eye clinic in 2001, and it has not been providing free eye check ups to both the locals and the people of the adjoining villages.

According to WHO's 2001/02 survey, there are 117,620 people completely blind in Nepal and 67 per cent of them are due to cataract. Kayastha believes that the contribution by the Lions Club would ease the job of the government.

As the WHO is mulling to make the world free of blind, projects like that of the LCKS could help thousands of people gain their sights back. The LCKS runs an eye clinic in Kathmandu that provides services at a minimum charge twice a week. "Because the charges are very low it has been attracting a large number of patients," says Kayastha.

Recently, Dr. Lary Sherrer of Pacific Eye Ware and North Shore Lions Club - Kauai of Hawaii presented the Lions Club of Kathmandu Sukunda with a most modern 'Eye Ultrasound Machine'.
The machine will be useful in detecting cataract and other problems related to eyes more easily than other conventional machines. The club already has an Auto Refractor Machine also provided by the Lions Club of Hawaii.

To expand its health facilities at Kagati village, the LCKS plans to build a health care centre. The Ministry of Health has already approved the project. "We have already bought land for the centre," Kayastha said, adding that the Japanese government is assisting in the construction of the centre.

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