Wellington optometrist Ravi Dass, founder of the Foureyes Foundation, is seeking optical partnerships to sustain a long-term expansion of vision services for primary-school-aged kids in Aotearoa.
On a mission to help remove barriers to eyecare for children in need, the foundation provides free vision screening, eye exams and glasses through a network of three clinics in Wellington, Porirua and Masterton. Partnering with the Eye Institute in 2020, the charity ran a successful pilot programme in Dargaville, which Dass said he is now keen to give a sustainable, long-term future.
One potential avenue to fund a Dargaville clinic, besides industry partnerships, is through research, said Dass. “As the clinic is based out of a medical centre, someone with a research project could capitalise on the infrastructure and the partnerships within the systems that I've created for the Foureyes Foundation to set-up and fund research.”
Launched in 2016, the foundation’s vision-screening programme followed Dass’ encounter with a 19-year-old who needed glasses but had somehow slipped through the system and his vision error had never been picked up, Dass said. “He had dropped out of school at a young age and eventually ended up on benefits. I couldn’t help thinking ‘if his vision problem had been identified earlier, could his life have been different?’ That encounter became a catalyst for me.”
One in five kids fall through the cracks
