Nimesha, like many young teenage girls, loves school, chatting with her friends and spending time with her family. She has many ideas for what she wants to do when she graduates High School – on the top of the list: Medical School. Unfortunately, unlike other children her age, Nimesha noticed her eyesight deteriorating two years ago and her quality of life also quickly began to deteriorate.
“Although I noticed my eye problem two years ago, there was no one who could come with me to the eye clinic. My mother works full-time and my father passed away four years ago,” she said. Not only that, but Nimesha is part of a large percent of low-income families in Sri Lanka who don’t have access to regular health care and lack substantial employment opportunities.
Nimesha said that when she goes to school, she cannot see the blackboard clearly from where she sits. She added, “I have to hold my textbooks very close to my face in order to read the small font.It is not fair because all I want is to be able to see, work and play like the other girls in my class.”
Nimesha was very excited about being seen by the eye care nurses and optometrists who came to her school. After being screened and further examined by the Brien Holden Foundation team through a program funded by Optometry Giving Sight, she was provided with high prescription glasses. Nimesha now enjoys playing with her friends and studying more effectively, and is no longer alienated by her classmates. She now has equal opportunity to reach her goal of becoming a doctor when she graduates.