K.D.E.C......
KWALE DISTRICT EYE CENTRE
The Eye Centre with a difference
P.O. BOX 90142 - Mombasa, Kenya
TEL: +254 (0)41 222135
FAX: +254 (0)41 222175
Mobile: +254 (0) 722 785996
Email: eyeskwale@africaonline.co.ke
Website: www.eyesforeastafrica.org
The Project
Kwale District Eye Centre (KDEC) was set up in 1993 to provide affordable, accessible eye care to combat this terrible and totally unnecessary rate of disability. It is a charitable institution and patients pay an affordable contribution only to their care.
The Eye Centre is run by a committee composed of voluntary members who oversee its activities. This committee consists of 9 members; 3 of whom are office bearers; chairman, treasurer and secretary.
KDEC is registered as a self-help group with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services and is exempt from registration with the Registrar of Societies.
In 1996 we signed a partnership agreement with Christian Blind Mission International. We signed a protocol agreement with Sight Savers International in 2001 and are a Vision 2020 project.
Since 1993 KDEC has gone from strength to strength thanks to input from many sources. To date we have done over 5,000 operations and registered over 32,000 eye patients at the Centre. Most of the operations are cataract extractions with intraocular lens implants (IOLs), which restore sight in the eye.
Please read our half year report. Click here.
Statistics
Patient Statistics
Activity 1999-2000-2001-2002
Patients seen in field 3452-4875-5052-7748-10,000
Patients at KDEC 7252-8175-8882-9051
Operations performed 398-689-1,053-1383
Cataract operations 276-590-945-1235
Cataract audit
92% of the eyes on which we performed cataract surgery in 2002 had a visual outcome better than or equal to 6/18 (that is more than half way down a visual acuity chart) at 6-weeks follow-up.
Our Strength
Why are we different? Because we work closely with the community. We started 9 years ago and realised that, in order to persuade people to seek help for their eye problems, we had to work with and in the community.
How? We recruited community based workers who are trusted people from the community and taught them how to identify a blind person and counsel them to come for treatment.
Ten years on these people screen and gather those with serious eye disease to a venue in the community to which we then send trained eye staff, transporting the patients back to Kwale District Eye Centre(KDEC) when they require further treatment.
This is essentially how we began to address the biggest challenges in preventing blindness in Kwale District; inaccessibility and lack of awareness.
Now we train rural health workers, traditional birth attendants, the district health medical team - all of whom are stationed in the field, to spread awareness of eye health, recognise and refer those with eye disease.
We train village health committees to screen and refer in the way that our community based workers (CBWs) were doing. This is a positive step in handing over the problem of needless blindness in the community to the community themselves to address.
Indeed one of the biggest challenges has been to persuade the community to take responsibility for their problem; that is the high prevalence of avoidable blindness in the district. Our mission statement is to 'empower the community by providing affordable, accessible eye care to prevent eye disease'.
In a population of about 600,000 people spread over 8,600 square kilometres an estimated 0.7% were totally blind in both eyes and many more visually disabled.
Kwale is the second poorest district in Kenya. According to a WHO study done in 1999, on average one employed person supports 16 dependents.
Our Activities
These include: -
| Outreach Clinics
| Training of Community Players
| Outpatient - Consultation, medical and optical services
| Surgery
| Low Vision Services - Low vision means that a child can use his sight to plan or execute a task but corrected vision in the better eye is less than 6/18. These children need good assessment, ophthalmological intervention, successful school placement and- the most difficult to provide- follow up for the rest of their lives.
| Rehabilitation Services - Those whose vision we cannot improve and who are blind by WHO definition we offer rehabilitation. This may be how to use a white cane, how to fold blue socks separately from white ones!
Fundraising
We need to continue to raise funds for the day to day running of Kwale District Eye Centre. The Committee of KDEC together with other parties, both individuals and organisations, have been invaluable in making our fundraising activities a success.
Regular annual fundraising events;
Diani Rules- Early June - a sports event held on the South Coast and attracts people from all walks of life.
Eye go fishing competition held at Mtwapa on the north coast in November.
The Hootenanny -a band who regularly plays for charity.
Diani Craft Fair and the Goat Derby run by the EAWL in December and April respectively
Funzi Furniture Spoon - A golf event at the Leisure Lodge Golf club over Easter holiday.
World Sight Day
This is celebrated globally on the 10th of October each year. The aim is to create awareness worldwide on the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. We participate in this because we are a V2020 partner project. V2020 is a coalition of 26 international organisations including WHO, working together to raise awareness of the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Activities for World Sight Day include Vitamin A. Distribution, Eye Tests, Eye Surgeries, Public Education - schools, sponsored activities, competitions etc, Musical Concerts, Blind Folding of authorities / celebrities, Media campaign etc.
Summary
We said in the introduction that Kwale is the second poorest district in Kenya. It is difficult to persuade people to contribute much, if anything, to their treatment. We run a two-tier system enabling patients to be treated as
' private'. We need to expand this more and encourage the wealthier people to come out of Mombasa town to KDEC.
Restoring sight takes money. On average one employed individual supports 16 dependants. Patients can often only afford a very small contribution to regain their sight.
Hence we are in constant search of funding to enable us to provide this service.
Please direct enquiries or send donations by cheque made out to Kwale District Eye Centre. Visitors are most welcome at the Centre.
We are situated 11km South of Likoni ferry on the main Lungalunga road. KDEC is open from 7.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday.
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