KOTA KINABALU: The Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu Pearl (RCKK Pearl) hosted a joint-Clubs cataract campaign in Kudat on Nov 13 at the Dewan Hakka Kudat.
Five other Rotary Clubs namely RC Likas Bay, RC Luyang, RC Kota Kinabalu Mandarin, RC Kinabalu Sutera and RC Tanjung Aru also participated in the campaign.
The campaign dubbed “KEMPEN HAPUSKAN KATARAK” provided free basic eye
screenings that were performed by Cataract Finder Volunteers from both KPJ and JMC
Hospitals.
Kudat Hospital Optometrist Puan Crestiani Laisis along with two of her staff also
volunteered their expertise for the program.
Three Rotarian doctors, Dr Asohan and Dr Sam from RC Likas Bay, with Datuk Dr Rajagopal
from RC Luyang were present to provide free eye exams and treatment recommendations
during the course of the program that started from 8.30am until 12.30pm.
Altogether, 344 patients were registered and given eye screening, out of which 121 were
referred to Kudat Hospital for further treatment. A total of 138 pairs of reading glasses were also provided for those who required them.
Due to the distance between Kudat and Kota Kinabalu, a few Rotarians from RCKK Pearl
namely current Club President Datuk Aminah Ambrose, Club Community Service Director
cum program coordinator Tulip Noorazyze, Club President Elect Rosie Chong and Club
Secretary Hanna Ghani-Loh travelled ahead in order to prepare the venue for the
programme.
They were joined by Past District 3310 Governor Philip Chong, Past Club President
Arius Yu and Dr Asohan all from RC Likas Bay, whose spouses also went along as volunteers.
The rest of the Rotarian volunteers travelled to Kudat on a hired coach that left Kota Kinabalu as early as 4am on the day of the programme , as they needed to convene at Dewan Hakka Kudat at 7am to get organised before the programme started at 8.30am.
RCKK Pearl Club President Datuk Aminah was able to obtain sponsorship of 400 Creameo
buns from Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Berhad through their Executive Director Datuk
Dexter Lau, as well as sponsorship of 10 cartons of mineral water cup from Rotary District
3310’s Assistant Governor for Group 13, Kapitan Eliza Goh who is also from RCKK Pearl.
These items were distributed to the public who came for the free eye screening.
“Kempen Hapuskan Katarak” was actually a Rotary Global Grant project, under Gift of Sight
Sabah 2.0, and was initiated by Past District 3310 Governor Philip Chong, in collaboration with seven other Rotary Clubs in Kota Kinabalu, and three from Sandakan, of which RC Sandakan North was the lead Club for this project.
The campaign was an ongoing programme and had already been carried out in three different districts within this year namely Pitas in August, Beaufort in September and Tuaran in October.
More districts would be included in this cataract campaign in the near future.-pr/BNN
