Class Optical Ltd, in association with the Maltese Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (MASMOM), recently presented a number of asylum seekers with a pair of spectacles.
The event marked the company’s annual corporate responsibility directed towards the community, which also commemorates an earlier calendar event, World Sight Day, a global initiative under the auspices of the World Health Organisation.
This year’s focus was directed towards the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) on the recommendation of MASMOM, who were tasked to select a beneficiary organisation of their choice and to co-ordinate the project.
In total, 40 patients ranging from children to adults were provided with an eye test by the company’s resident optometrist in a purposely built mobile clinic (donated by the SMOM to the government), located at the Marsa Open Centre. From this group, 33 patients required corrective vision. Lenses for all prescriptions were produced locally in the company’s optical lens laboratory, cut and mounted onto a frame of their choice.
During a brief activity held at the Marsa Open Centre, Joseph Baldacchino (CEO, AWAS) acknowledged this generous contribution provided by Class Optical Ltd commemorated the initiative by presenting the spectacles to a few of the migrants in the presence of MASMOM’s president Marchesino Daniel de Petri Testaferrata and Hospitaller Kevin Dingli.
MASMOM’s president affirmed that assistance to migrants remained the main focus of the Hospitaller activities of the Order of Malta. Martin Mercieca (CEO, Class Optical) commented on the importance of eyecare, citing the need to carry out tests at least every two years, which helps to detect and sometimes also prevent related disorders. He thanked MASMOM for the opportunity given to assist the association in this way and by this contributed to improving the quality of life of a few of Malta’s asylum seekers who are living difficult and uncertain times.
Class Optical is a specialist organisation operating within the optical industry serving the local market for over 30 years.
Amanda Vella (communications coordinator, AWAS), Josephine Riviera (Open Centre coordinator, AWAS), Danny Theron (optometrist, Class Optical) and Marchesino Daniel de Petri Testaferrata (MASMOM president)