One in six local kindergarten children screened needed a full eye exam. A charity’s mobile clinic has travelled from Auckland to make sure they get one — free, and without whānau needing to go anywhere.
Painga Project’s mobile optometry clinic ‘Celia’ is in the region this week, providing free eye exams to Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten children as part of the charity’s Wellington pilot. Every child seen has already been screened by Painga Project — and 17 per cent of the children screened were found to need a full eye exam, a result that points to significant unmet need
among our youngest learners.
Celia has travelled from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, where she currently works in 53 of the highest equity index primary and intermediate schools. She hasn’t come alone: ‘Whina’, Painga Project’s mobile audiology clinic, has made the trip too, acting as a support vehicle where children can choose the frames for their glasses if they need them. Exams, glasses and follow-up are all free for whānau.
Painga Project is a charity built around a simple idea: equity at the school gate. A child who cannot see the board, or the pictures in a book, starts their education already behind — often without anyone knowing why. By bringing screening, full eye exams and free glasses directly to kindergartens and schools during the day, the clinic removes the cost, travel and time-off-work barriers that stop many families from accessing vision care.
“These children are about to begin their school journey, and good vision changes everything about how that journey goes,” says Sarah Corson, CEO at Painga Project. “What we’re seeing at Whānau Manaaki kindergartens tells us the need in this region is real. We’d love the Wellington community to get behind a permanently based mobile clinic — so this isn’t a one-off visit”.
The pilot is also a chance for Painga Project to better understand pre-school vision needs, and for the wider Wellington region — from Levin and Porirua to the city — to see what the charity could deliver locally. With funding for a Wellington-based mobile clinic, Painga Project could bring free vision care to children across the region, year round.
Locals who would like to support the mahi — as funders, partners or volunteers — can get in touch via paingaproject.co.nz or donate through the charity’s Givealittle page givealittle.co.nz/org/the-painga-project