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Home / Aid streams in for visually impaired learner
Aid streams in for visually impaired learner
2016-10-25Staff Report 2 Omuthiya - Good Samaritans have come to the assistance of a Grade 11 learner, who suffers from poor vision and who at some point wanted to quit school, as he was struggling to access basic medical care. New Era last month ran a story about 18-year-old Fredrick Matheus, a learner at Omuthiya Iipundi Senior Secondary School in the Oshikoto Region - who had dropped out of school for a few days after his eyesight worsened. This touched the hearts of many, including the Special Advisor to Erongo Governor, Adelheid Kandjala, who last Thursday drove from Swakopmund to meet Matheus in person. Kandjala then offered to pay for all the medical expenses of Matheus, who has appealed for eye glasses to enable him to study, as he can only study for 10 minutes at a time before his eyes start itching. In addition, Kandjala pledged food items and N$1 000 to pay for Matheus’ rented shack at Kanita informal settlement in Omuthiya, as he has nowhere to reside in town. Matheus hails from Amilema, some 20 km West of Omuthiya, where he lived with his single unemployed mother before he moved to Omuthiya to further his education after completing Grade 10. “I was touched by the boy’s condition and I therefore render my assistance in that regard and now ask the school to immediately facilitate by taking Matheus to an eye specialist to have a thorough check up as soon as possible and to be treated accordingly depending on the results of the examinations,” said Kandjala, reiterating that she will take care of all the expenses. “Timeliness should be considered here, he should be assisted at least before exams commerce, or else he will be affected,” she added. Matheus was described by his teacher as being obedient and brilliant. “His performance is good, even though at first we didn’t know that he had such an illness until we read in the newspaper. We have a counselling section, which deals with learners that have illnesses and other related concerns, if we had known earlier we would have assisted,” said his teacher Dickson Hamutenya. He has been suffering chronic vision problems since 2008, when he was 10 years old. According to his health passports, he visits the hospital nearly everyone month or two. However, with this assistance Matheus is hopeful that his dream of becoming a tour guide will be realised. 2016-10-25Staff Report 2
