Free eye test opens new world for domestic worker in Umdloti

A Mandela Day community service initiative saw Umdloti domestic worker Lucia Majola (44) receive her first ever eye test.

As a service to the community and to raise awareness of the importance of having regular eye tests done, Umdloti optometrist Mariska Marais conducted free eye tests during Mandela Day week at her practice, Optom by the Sea.

“I came in because I was struggling to read the small print on my cell phone and in other places,” said Majola.

She was surprised at how welcoming her first experience with an optometrist was.

“I was worried as a black person to come to such a fancy place, but I felt welcome and I got glasses within my small budget,” she said.

Marais had her sights set on conducting 67 free eye tests, but due to popular demand extended the initiative to the end of this week.

“For health reasons it is important to have one’s eyes tested at least once every two years. Through an eye test we can detect health issues such as abnormal blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol levels,” said Marais.

Throughout the Mandela Day initiative, Marais found the majority of patients who came in for their first eye tests needed glasses – an indication, she said, of how many people with poor eyesight went undetected.

“Research shows about 80% of people over the age of 40 need reading glasses,” she said.

Marais added hyperopia (also called farsightedness) was often missed. It is a refractive error that prevents the eye from bending light properly, causing the eye to work unnecessarily hard to see far away objects in crisp focus while near vision is blurry.

This condition is easily treatable with glasses, contact lenses or surgery such as LASIK.

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