Observations on Eye Care in Lamu, Kenya: Overlooked Needs and Proposed Interventions

These notes draw attention to the underserved eye care needs of residents of Lamu, Kenya. They are comprised of observations that we, Rebecca Gearhart, an anthropology professor at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) and Erick Henderson, an IWU biology and pre-optometry major and president of the Optometry Club, made while volunteering at a clinic in Lamu, Kenya during the summer of 2011. Plans to establish a temporary eye clinic emerged after Rebecca discovered that Erick was an optometric technician who might use his portable optometry lens set to fit residents of Lamu Town on Lamu Island for glasses and teach them about eye health. We spent ten days volunteering at the Lamu Center of Preventative Health (LCPH) assisting the Center’s director, Munib Abdulrehman, in performing reading evaluations and glaucoma checks for 340 patients and distributing 450 pairs of reading and sunglasses.