As we told you in last month’s CMIRC Bulletin, we delivered our last prescription glasses to the municipal school children on December 24th of 2020. In all, 149 elementary school children predominantly from very poor families have directly benefited from our CMIRC School Vision Screening Program (SVSP) this school year!
Our experience with earlier vision screening projects has shown us the importance of following up with children who received glasses to be sure that they are being used properly and that the children are comfortable wearing them. To that end, on January 24, 2021, we sent a questionnaire to all twelve schools we served asking the health teacher to follow up with the children who received glasses. The questions dealt with how well the glasses fit, whether the children felt their vision was improved and clearer, whether they had problems with dizziness, and whether the glasses had been damaged. For each question for each child the health teacher could also comment and elaborate. We will now wait for the replies to these questions for all children who received glasses and where there are problems, our optician and team members will respond.
We are also planning for next school year, probably beginning our screenings of 3rd and 5th-graders in June, at the start of the new school year. The screenings next school year will include a follow-up examination with the children who received glasses in 2020 (most will be 4th and 6th-graders at the same schools) and then a screening of the new 3rd and 5th-graders at each of the twelve schools.
Finally, in spite of the generosity of our donors last year, we are still going to be far behind in our budget for next year. The program cost per prescription including the optician’s fees, frames, and lenses this past year was about 600 Baht (US$20); the glasses are provided for free to the children. The total program budget for next year is estimated to be between $3,000 and $4,000 US dollars.
If you wish to learn how you can help, please contact Project Champion John Schorr at johnkschorr@gmail.com or tel.: 66 (0)8 5030 2143
The CMIRC School Vision Screening Program at the eleven municipal schools during the 2020 school year was made possible by the very generous donation from the Rotary Club of Spokane #21; their gift to the children of Chiang Mai covered almost all program costs with the exception of the children’s frames and prescriptions for children who were referred by teachers from outside our targeted 3rd and 5th grade classes. The program at Wat Suan Dok School was funded by the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai Wattana. One thousand, high quality New Balance children’s frames were donated by Eyewear Designs Limited of Bethpage, NY, USA. The Thai Thaim Foundation also contributed to the program.
Our 2020 School Vision Screening Donor Team: