DAISight 2017

DAISight2017 is student-led community service initiative with the aim to work towards a world in which eye problems are punctually and correctly diagnosed and the appropriate help is provided to all individuals in society who need it. We have promoted our aim through our mission, which is to organise eye camps and awareness drives for the underprivileged strata of society, thus improving access to eye care.

This year, DAISight worked in tandem with representatives of Lotus Eye Hospital who tutored us in the basics of vision testing and eye-care. They have been instrumental in providing the necessary equipment, mentorship and supervision towards the success of our mission.

Our knowledge of Carol Ann Duffy and Margaret Atwood's poetic works studied in English class combatted subjects of gender inequality. We truly understood their significance in today's day when we read Trisha's poem, "Playtime" that embodied similar themes and dealt with idea of women breaking free from gender stereotypes. We wrongly assumed that the poems (written in the 1970s) were outdated and weren't applicable in a modern context.

Over the last few months, our project entailed finding an NGO that would allow us to conduct an eye camp for the demographic it assisted. We were fortunate to have been able to work with Angel Xpress Foundation, which is an NGO that helps educate underprivileged school children in English, Math, Craft, Sport and various other activities and subjects. They were kind enough to give us their consent to conduct a 5-hour eye camp on 22 January 2017 at their centre in Jogeshwari for 70 children aged 7-14.

On the day of the eye camp, the DAISight team arrived early to set up the venue. We divided ourselves into groups in charge of registration, vision testing and data entry and ensured that each child was correctly diagnosed and that all the relevant details were noted. We became more efficient as the camp progressed and appreciated the development of our collaborative skills while expanding our knowledge of eye care and vision testing, such as how to recognise myopia, which is near-sightedness, and hyperopia, which is far-sightedness. Towards the end of the camp, we interviewed some of the children and recorded their experiences with DAISight. We were pleased to note that the camp positively impacted them as most had never had the opportunity to visit an eye doctor and relied (to a certain extent) on NGOs for healthcare.

In the weeks following the eye-camp at Angel Xpress, the DAISight team has maintained contact with Lotus Eye Hospital to ensure that those children who were referred for further diagnosis have received their due treatment and/or eyeglasses. DAISight, Lotus Eye Hospital and Angel Xpress are all very pleased at the success of this project and hope that similar ones can continue in the years to come.

DAISight is very appreciative of the time and effort of our supervising CAS teachers, Ms. Kajal Manglani and Mr. Sree raman Rama nathan, the Lotus Eye Hospital Representatives and Angel Xpress Foundation in making our mission a success. We are grateful to have been given this opportunity and hope that we have made a difference to the broader community that we live in.