Georgetown: Head of Delegation of the European Union to Guyana Ambassador Robert Kopecký met recently with three of the graduates from the University of Guyana’s Bachelor of Optometry degree programme. The European Union is supporting the degree programme as a component of the regional Delivering V2020 in the Caribbean project, for which the European Union is providing €4m over five years. This project aims to reduce the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment amongst rural and poor populations in the Caribbean.
The optometry degree programme is a collaboration between the Caribbean Council for the Blind, CCB-Eye Care Guyana, the Ministry of Health, the University of Guyana and Sightsavers and includes students from Guyana, Dominica, Jamaica, St Lucia and Haiti. The programme currently has 104 students, and on Saturday 8, November 2014 the first twenty two students graduated as part of a pioneering effort to increase the number of eye health service providers in the region. The European Union has supported scholarships for nine of these initial graduates as well as general support to the degree programme as a whole.
For one graduate, Ms Khohane Blake from rural Jamaica, this is a particularly proud moment. Khohane’s mother was blind and overcame many challenges to ensure that Khohane received a good start in life and a good education. The efforts of her mother ensured that Khohane was able to take up the opportunity of a one year Refractionist Techniques course at the University of Guyana, and has now continued her career progression by successfully completing the 4 year optometry programme.
Khohane’s aim is to help others who are visually impaired and thanks to the support of the European Union she has now graduated and will be able to provide eye health services to rural populations in Jamaica.
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