The VISION2020 links programme is not a ‘quick fix’ charity programme. The team aims to help provide training for the staff in Kano eye hospital and help set up a self sustaining eyecare service for children in the area. You can get a feel for the lack of facilities etc. from the reports from the visit.

In developing countries a little money can go a long way. CBM have a ‘virtual gift shop’ with estimated costs for certain procedures. These figures are general estimates and may not be accurate for costs in Nigeria.

In the past, mistakes have been made in funding health programmes in developing countries. Expensive equipment has been purchased, but in some cases it has been underused because it either cannot be integrated with the existing system or cannot be properly maintained.

Our project has been designed to be made ‘fit for purpose’ through face to face meetings between the respective teams. Some of the money for the project will be used to fund the visits of the eyecare teams to and from Nigeria, a vital part of the project. These visits, supervised by the ICEH, will help to ensure that the programme is carefully tailored to the needs of children in Kano and that there are ample opportunities for training the whole multidisciplinary team. Our aim is to help the team in Kano to develop and continue the eyecare programme to help prevent blindness well into the future. The money from the justgiving site will be channeled into the project through an account held by CBM, the charity that supports the E.C.W.A. eye hospital in Kano. This means that admin costs can be kept to the minimum. Further details about how exactly the money will be used to be released after the first Nigerian visit: watch this space!