00:00For 61 primary school students, Sunday marked the beginning of a clearer future.
00:06The children received prescription eyeglasses through the Eyes Right project,
00:10pushing the number of free payers distributed by the Rapid Fire Kids Foundation
00:16to a milestone figure since the initiative was launched in 2014.
00:21Over the past 12 years, the program has expanded across Trinidad and Tobago,
00:26screening thousands of students and providing prescription glasses
00:30to children whose families may otherwise have struggled to afford them.
00:35We have screened scores of schools.
00:40We have screened thousands of children.
00:45And I'm proud to say that this project is the only project in Trinidad and Tobago
00:52that gives free eyeglasses to primary school children on a permanent, sustained basis.
01:01Ratchiram said many parents are unaware that children have vision problems
01:06until school screenings identify them.
01:10They thought the child's sitting too far from the board.
01:13They thought it's the glare from the sun.
01:16So some of them never knew.
01:21Some of them didn't know.
01:24And perhaps due to financial constraints, they weren't able to get the glasses.
01:31He said restoring a child's vision is a life-changing act.
01:35With this 1,500, we give a new lease on life to 1,500 children
01:46who otherwise quite likely wouldn't have had that opportunity.
01:51Despite the program's success, Ratchiram admitted that reaching children remains a challenge.
01:58He said some parents fail to take advantage of free eye examinations
02:03even after students are identified during school screenings.
02:07One of the three schools that we are doing today,
02:1367 students had to go to Steve U Optical for their test.
02:1867.
02:19Do you know how many actually went?
02:2234.
02:24Half.
02:25Half went and half did not go.
02:2933 did not go.
02:31Using the milestone to deliver a broader message,
02:34Ratchiram said improving children's lives
02:36could not be left solely to governments or charities.
02:40He urged parents, teachers, community leaders and citizens alike
02:45to play a more active role in safeguarding the nation's children,
02:49expressing concern over growing violence affecting young people,
02:53as he warned against violence against children,
02:56becoming an accepted norm.
02:58Every time that there is any sort of ill treatment of a child brought to our attention,
03:05we must feel hurt, we must feel angry,
03:09and most importantly, we must be determined to speak up and speak out against it.
03:17The foundation says despite challenges,
03:19it remains committed to expanding the EyesRide project
03:22and hopes to celebrate the distribution of its 2,000th pair of eyeglasses in the coming years.
03:29Ravashita Wari Rupnarein, TV6 News.
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