One Sight provides better eye sight through volunteer mission
One Sight provides better eye sight through volunteer mission
By MARVIN BAKER
EDITOR
A group of more than 20 volunteers examined approximately 1,000 people for proper eye sight during a two-day stop on the Fort Berthold Reservation Sept. 17.
One Sight, an international organization that is part of the Luxattica Group Foundation, was in New Town through a $500,000 grant to provide better eye sight for reservation residents.
Jared Eagle directed the logistics of the massive examination for the Minne-Tohe Tribal Health Clinic. He called it a “big group effort” that included every segment office on the reservation, the Boys and Girls Clubs, student nurses from Fort Berthold Community College and others. Eagle said it was a huge collaboration.
“I’m very happy with how it turned out,” Eagle said. “It takes more time with young children, but we basically stayed on a schedule.”
Eagle said the examination was open to native and non native people living on Fort Berthold and when everyone was examined, the number hit 1,000. It included children from all five schools on Fort Berthold and elders from across the reservation.
Eagle said the examination included a screening, eye chart exam, dialation, depth and color and actual prescriptions. Finally patients got to pick out any style of hundreds of frames that were available on sight.
“For people who took advantage of it, there were no restrictions,” Eagle said. “So, for people who took advantage of this, it was great.”
Julie Mader was one of the volunteers working in New Town. She said the group had also completed roughly 1,500 examinations on the Turtle Mountain Reservation prior to coming to New Town.
“We go wherever there is a need,” Mader said. “In two weeks, we’ve done two reservations in North Dakota and they are mostly children.”
Mader said more than 800 pairs of eye glasses were made on location in a large mobile bus that sat outside the building. Those with more complicated prescriptions had to have their eye glasses ordered and will receive their eye glasses in less than a month through Indian Health Services.
