Sheila is one of the first female optometrists who graduated from the School of Optometry in Makerere University, Uganda. She graduated in January 2019 and completed her 6-month internship.
Sheila started wearing glasses when she was only 8 years old. She could not see the blackboard in her class and her teacher noticed her struggling. Sheila and her brother both were myopic, and after eye exams at the Hospital they were diagnosed as needing glasses.
“As an optometrist, I need to be able to see my patients properly.” Sheila knows the importance of having glasses, without which she would not have been able to become an optometrist today.
Optometry was not something she knew a lot about as a child or even in high school. As she started learning more about optometry, she realized how blessed she is to become an optometrist and appreciated her learnings even more.
As the first optometry students, Sheila and her friends have fought many battles, but she is thankful and proud that the profession is now recognized in Uganda. “I am among the first female optometrists in Uganda, so it gives me a lot of pride!” She wants to encourage young girls to study optometry because she believes it is a prestigious profession.
She wants to thank all the funders, including Optometry Giving Sight, for providing excellent equipment and lecturers, without which they would not have been able to get through the course and become the first optometrists in Uganda.