OPSM and Tainui tribe have formed a partnership, the first of its kind in New Zealand, to manage tribe members’ eye health.
“OPSM is proud to have partnered with Waikato-Tainui. The partnership forms a core part of our ‘We love local’ strategy,” said James Melton, OPSM New Zealand director. "Still in its infancy, the Waikato-Tainui partnership is already bringing so much joy to their kaumātua [elders], members and the OPSM team.”
“We have an ancestral proverb from our second Māori King, Taawhiao, ‘teeraa ooku nei hoa kei ngaa toopito o te ao’, meaning ‘our friends will come from the four corners of the world’. OPSM is one of those friends helping to make a difference for our most vulnerable members, our tamariki [children] and our kaumātua,” said Donna Flavell, Waikato-Tainui chief executive.
Waikato-Tainui has around 78,000 registered tribal members, with 11,500 over 60 years of age. The kaumātua eyecare partnership includes one free standard eye test and one complete pair of glasses per person.
To celebrate the new partnership, OPSM supported the 2020 Tainui Games, held recently in Ngaruwahia. An OPSM team of seven volunteers screened 149 kaumātua and spoke to hundreds of members about the importance of eyecare.
