Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 10 April 2015: Phnom Penh advocate for women, Ms Samoun, is known for her dedication enabling others through health and education in underprivileged areas of Cambodia’s capital. She is the Executive Director of the Urban Poor Women’s Development organisation, passionate about supporting women’s needs and rights, and providing training opportunities to learn essential workforce skills.
The recent International Women’s Day celebration was seen as a great opportunity by the Brien Holden Vision Institute to support Ms Samoun’s mission by providing a free eye screening service at the Bakou Village.
The event ran as a collaboration between community, government, local and international organisations to support both eye health and the development of sustainable eye care services for woman, children and other underserved members of urban Phnom Penh.
The theme of advocating support for women held strong in a secondary way with recently trained refractionist, Ms Sokhim Khann, a local woman from Phnom Penh, performing eye examinations alongside the Institute’s optometry technician, Mr Seila Chea.
“Since graduating from the National Refraction course in 2014, I hadn’t had the opportunity to practice retinoscopy refraction, until now. Today has been my first time and I have examined over 20 patients so far. It is important I continue learning and practicing these skills. I’ve had some very constructive and encouraging feedback from Mr Chea and I can go back and study any gaps,” explained Ms. Khann.
Established in 1998 by Ms Samoun as a non-government community organisation, Urban Poor Women’s Development provides a range of comprehensive health services for urban women and their families.
A spokesperson for Ms Samoun, “I think eye health is important to us and that is why we have come here today. Just being aware of its importance is a good step, long term it is not enough. People need to continue getting their eyes checked on a regular basis, especially as they age. We support women especially as we know they are often at greater risk of not receiving services they need,” said Deputy Community leaderSophea Som.
There was a great response from the community attending the vision screening and praise for the team performing the refraction services. Overall, there were 114 patients who received full eye exams resulting in 93 pairs of spectacles distributed. A further 19 individuals were referred to hospital for follow up services or surgery.
One local woman explained a common difficulty, “I came here because I have trouble seeing phone numbers to call my family, friends or local services which worries me greatly. I also find it very hard these days to sew clothes and sewing is my job, so it’s important that I can see,” she said.
Brien Holden Vision Institute opened the Phnom Penh Vision Centre and office in Phnom Penh in 2009, and has provided eye care services to the local disadvantaged communities for the last six years, with a view to creating sustainable services run by the community for the community. The Institute conducted the free vision screening, in collaboration with Cambodia’s National Program for Eye Health, with the focus on reaching women in the community.