Some 553 residences in the Wa Municipality and its environs as well as selected districts such as Nandom, Jirapa, Lawra, Gwollu, Nadoli, Wechiau, Adakraba and Tema in the Greater Accra and Upper West Regions can now heave a sigh of relief as the Kog Kriationz Network, a non-governmental based in Tema has performed free surgeries and treatment for them.
A free eye screening exercise for about 5,000 people majority of whom were school children from a cluster of schools in the districts preceded the surgery and were given free eye glasses and eye drops while those whose condition needed to undergo surgery were successfully operated on to correct any defect.
The Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Kog Kriationz Network, Eric Owusu Gyimah, known in showbiz cycles as Oyokodehye Kofi, said that his NGO has been carrying out this humanitarian duty free of charge since 2012 across the nation mostly in deprived districts and in underprivileged societies nationwide.
This, he said, could not have been possible without the help of sponsors like Eye Foundation of America, Banks Apothecary, Oheneba Ghana Rice, Friends Eye Centre and Kog Eye Care.
He explained that some pupils became school dropouts due to the poor or low vision but after the surgery, such pupils have started schooling again which is the main objective of the foundation.
The lead surgeon, Dr Seth Wanye, called on the public to seek periodic checkups on their eyes and desist from any local treatment since this might complicate issues.
Some beneficiaries said it would have been extremely difficult for them to afford the cost of treatment or surgery.
He disclosed that the project focused basically on school children so that their education will not be truncated as well as the aged to enable them have some respite and be able to fend for themselves.
They, therefore, expressed gratitude to the NGO and asked that they extend their tentacles to cover the majority of their colleagues who were in similar condition all over the country.