Unwanted glasses head to Africa

Gillian Bruce has been handed bags of glasses to take to Uganda

A Dundee optician is preparing to head out to Uganda with piles of old glasses that locals and people from across the UK have donated.

Gillian Bruce, 29, will lead a team of six who will carry out eye tests and also provide training to local nurses.

A fellow optician in Paisley, Nicola McDermid, will also be part of the team working in Masaka and Soroti.

The group is heading out for two weeks on 1 November with the charity Vision Aid Overseas.

Miss Bruce works at Neil Cuthbert and Partners in Commercial Street, but has helped in Ghana and Uganda before.

She told the BBC Scotland news website that eye care and conditions in Dundee are very different to that in Uganda.

'Quite tough'

She said: "It's physically challenging, working in the temperatures and also the facilities we'll be working in are very basic. You're working basically from equipment that fits into the size of a briefcase.

"And you're only out there for a very limited amount of time so you want to see as many people as you possibly can, so just trying to work quickly and effectively will be difficult.

"But it's also quite tough because we're just going to provide spectacles, so we're really trying to give vision to the people who have healthy eyes but just need glasses.

The group will carry out eye tests and hand out glasses in Uganda

"So it's quite tough seeing a lot of people with eye disease and knowing there's not anything you can do to help them, whereas if they were in this country they would have good sight and good health care."

Miss Bruce has been giving presentations to church and women's groups to raise awareness of the work the opticians are doing.

She said: "I've just been stunned by how many people then go out and collect glasses, who bring in bag loads of glasses to us. They're also very supportive with messages and donations.

"One of the big draws to me is the fact that we're not talking about blindness from obscure eye diseases or anything else, we're talking about blindness from merely the fact of not having spectacles, so it's completely preventable.

"While in this country it [not seeing well] might be a hardship, it can actually be life-threatening out there. If you can't see to work and make money for your family then maybe your family disowns you or if you can't see to keep your business going then you can't make money, you can't buy food."

The group hope to be able to set up an optical lab in Uganda next year so glasses can be made in the country.