EYES FOR THE WORLD Agora Club’s women donate spectacles in Francistown
Agora Club Botswana has officially handed over 26 pairs of spectacles to children with poor vision in Francistown. This brings to total, 71 spectacles that have been donated to children, between 2019 and 2020.
Agora Club Botswana, which was formed in 2014, is an affiliate of Agora Club International – a charity club for women aged 42 years and above and is represented in 19 countries around the world. In Botswana, Agora Club has 32 members, who belong to 3 Agora sub-clubs of women ready to help people who are less fortunate, especially women and children.
In a quest to alleviate the plight of children suffering from poor vision and assist them with having a better quality of life, as well as improve their performance in school, the Botswana chapter embarked on an ‘Eyes for the World’ project to provide spectacles to the children.
The ‘Eyes for the World’ project was introduced in 2015 by Agora Club International. More than five countries, including Botswana, participated in this project, where members of Agora Club worked in collaboration with ophthalmologists to identify and help children who suffer from poor vision. In Botswana, Agora Club partnered with Broad Vision Eye Clinic to identify and assess the needs of the children with poor vision.
Motivated by the success of the initial project, members of Agora Club Botswana embarked on a campaign to fundraise and raise further awareness about the plight of children who suffer from poor vision. In October 2018 Agora Botswana was awarded P100,000.00 by His Excellency President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi, donated by First Capital Bank, to continue with the project.
In 2019, a total of 45 students from Ghanzi District benefited from the project and received spectacles. In 2020, Agora identified 26 students from various schools in the Francistown area who received spectacles.
Speaking about the handover in Francistown, Mrs Bilkiss Moorad, President Agora Club Botswana, said, “We are grateful to First Capital Bank and Broad Vision Eye Clinic to have found it fit to help the underprivileged members of our beautiful country Botswana. This will go a long way in improving the quality of life for the children who have benefited from this project. Since membership of Agora Club is voluntary and non-profit, our charitable activities are made possible by the generosity of Batswana and the business community. We look forward to partnering with other businesses to help Batswana and our Government alleviate various challenges and achieve our Vision 2036 and Sustainable Development Goals.”
