Odo-Aiyedun is one of the villages of Aiyedun town of Ekiti State. It has a population of about 80,000. The modern Ekiti state was formed from part of Ondo in 1996. Aiyedun is one of 32 towns in Ekiti state. The Ekiti, whose ancestors migrated from Ile-Ife as a people, form one of the largest ethnic groups in Yorubaland. Ekitis are culturally homogeneous and they speak a dialect of Yoruba language known as Ekiti. Ekiti people are renowned for their resourcefulness

Aiyedun town has no private or public eye clinic. The nearest eye clinic is in Ilorin which is about 2hrs drive from it or Ibadan which is about four hours drive due to bad roads. It is because of this that Life Support Eye clinic is partnering with the community to set up an Eye clinic in the Baptist hospital which is grossly underutilised. It is a building without equipment and competent staff. All this can change if we work together to bring it to life to serve the community. The Hospital has an outpatient waiting room with a capacity for 250 patients. This will be used as the registration Hall, Visual Acuity evaluation and fellowship hall during the four days outreach in September 2010. There is a doctor�s examination room currently being used by a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) doctor. This will be used for screening surgical cases by the eye doctors during the outreach week.

There is an operating theatre which is currently being used as residential accommodation for an in-house emergency nurse. This will be re-converted to its proper use and remodelled by installing an air conditioner, creating a scrub area, changing room and toilet for theatre staff. It will also be disinfected and left fallow for a minimum of two months before September next year. Life Support Eye Clinic will initially supply all the surgical hard and consumable items until the Hospital can acquire its own.

Two rooms (10ft/10ft) in the Hospital Annexe were identified and earmarked to be converted and remodelled to serve as the Eye clinic which will start functioning by June 2010.

There is currently no water in the facility because the pumping machine is broken. This will be repaired so that there will be running water by latest February 2010.

The generator supplying the facility and the autoclave machine for sterilisation of theatre consumables will be activated before the outreach in September.

PLAN

Infrastructural modifications for the Theater, Earmarked rooms for the Eye clinic, and waiting room for the outreach in September 22nd � 25th 2010. The outreach will involve free eye screening and treatment of simple eye diseases, free cataract surgeries of selected ten patients to showcase future services, and free distribution of eyeglasses all paid for by donations. Two nurses from the Aiyedun community will receive free training in eye care and management of simple eye diseases at Life Support Eye clinic in Lagos. Training will commence in February 2010 by the grace of God. They will be the bad eye finders. They will also be taught how to do simple refraction to take care of the simple reading and sight problems of the community. The two rooms to serve as eye clinic will be given a name that will be acceptable to the community and will be equipped to discharge the duties of eye care for the community. Patients will be charged minimal fees for maintenance of equipment.

Life Support eye clinic will be responsible for the fundraising and implementation of the outreach scheduled for September 2010. Donations towards the project will go into the dedicated Life Support eye clinic (LSEC) account that will be opened in the new year. The account number will be circulated and names of donors published on the Life Support eye clinic website www.lifesupporteyeclinic.com.

Updates on this project will also be posted on the ViewPoint website which everyone can open, refer to, receive information and make suggestions. There will be complete transparency on how the project is implemented. We will encourage donations not only for the September outreach but also for establishment of a functional medical clinic and establishment of state of the art eye clinic.

BASIC EYE INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED

• Snellen�s chart � N40,000
• Ophthalmoscope � N80,000
• Trial lens set with frame � N30,000
• Pen torches � N50.00
• Dilating drops � N10,000
• Perkins Tonometer � $1,000
• Anaesthetic eye drops � 4,000
• Fluorescein strips � $50.00
• Mirror
• Furniture
• Retinoscope � N80,000
• Cataract Surgery during outreach � N30,000 per patient
• Life Support contribution � Subsidized surgery (Cataract surgery is N120,000 per patient in Lagos), Cost of rentals of autorefractor, slit lamp, tonometer at the initial stage, subsidized trips to Odo-Aiyedun till September etc.

UPGRADED EQUIPMENT

• Autorefractor
• Slit lamp with tonometer
• Phoropter
• Examination chair
• Visual field analyser
• Small incision cataract set
• Drapes
• Operating table
• Theater lamp
• Keratometer
• A-scan machine/Biometry

BASIC MEDICAL CLINIC EQUIPMENT

• Thermometer
• Sphygmomanometer � donated
• EKG machine
• First Aid Kit
• CPR / Airway maintenance kit
• Scale for weight
• Cardiac monitoring equipment & blood oxygen analyser

PLANS FOR THE OUTREACH SEPTEMBER 22ND � 25TH

• Wednesday 22nd � Opening ceremony with prayers
  Screening for eye diseases and glasses prescription
• Thursday 23rd � Continue screening. Surgery will commence
• Friday 24th � Continue screening and surgery/ evening crusade
• Saturday 25th � Follow up and testimonies/ closing ceremony

I am using this opportunity to call on all sons and daughters of Odo- Aiyedun Ekiti and its environs to rise up to make this project a reality for unto whom much is given, much is expected. Our parents and relatives living in the Aiyedun deserve the best. God bless you as we together answer the call of God to make a difference in our generation.