Inaugural Eye Camp supports people of Punjab

Gautam Passi highlights the work being carried out by the Locumotive charity to provide free eye examinations to people in rural India…

Earlier this year, Locumotive, the app-based optical recruiter, set up a non-for-profit charity arm to provide free eyecare and spectacles to those in need. The sole purpose of the charity is to use skilled optical professionals to help make a difference in the world.

Our aim is to improve people’s quality of life, and through improved visual healthcare allow them to work, become better educated and develop further opportunities.

During October this year, an amazing group of UK optometrists and dispensing opticians ventured out to rural parts of Punjab to support the local communities in our inaugural Locumotive Eye Camp.

Why the camp started

Visual health is massively ignored in most parts of the world, mainly caused by poverty and lack of government support. The inability to have access to basic visual health care, such as sight tests, glasses and medication, is affecting people ability to work, study and learn.

Simple visual aids can help these children’s future, help families to continue working and prevent blindness through medication and education. The Locumotive charity has a mission to improve the quality of life of communities so they can better their future.

What did Locumotive do?

Locumotive recruited optical professionals to travel to India from the UK. We set up eye camps across multiple villages in Punjab, led by myself, a locum optometrist. Locumotive provided free eye examinations to an estimated 1,000 people and prescription spectacles as required, along with education on how to look clean and after their eyes.

The team focused their work in rural villages that have no access to basic eyecare, spending eight days in the area earlier during October. The impact on these people’s lives was amazing; for many people this was their first opportunity to have a sight test. It was beyond rewarding to give these people the spectacles they deserved to improve their quality of life, by giving them sight that they thought they lost.

About Locumotive
• The organisation is purely non-for-profit and recruited optical professionals to travel to India from the UK
• Volunteers travelled to remote areas of Northern India providing care for local people barely earning 2000 rupees per month, just over £20
• This first project was incredibly successful, providing free sight tests to an estimated 1,000 people and prescription spectacles as required
• Education given to this community was invaluable, especially focusing on how to clean and look after their eyes.

These acts of giving back are part of the key ethos behind Locumotive. Its inaugural Eye Camp work was truly life changing, and touched many lives.

What are we looking for?

The Locumotive Eye Camp will return to the area in October 2020. We want dedicated optometrists, dispensing opticians and skilled optical staff to come on board the October 2020 Locumotive Eye Camp so we can expand and help wider communities.

For more information on how to get involved in the 2020 Eye Camp, contact Locumotive at info@locumotive.co.uk