DO GOOD MISSIONS
Do Good Missions
The Do Good initiative was launched by the Bulgarian Jewish Community with the support of JDC in October 2012. Dr. Alexander Oscar, Chairman of the Sofia Jewish Community and Vice-President of ECJC, has managed the project from the very beginning with great vision and outstanding dedication.
Intended as a token of gratitude towards the Bulgarian people, who saved their 48,000 Jewish fellow-citizens from deportation during WWII, it started as a charity campaign providing free eye examinations and eye glasses to underprivileged children from the rural regions of the country.
Inspired by the Jewish values of tikkun olam that one can not only be for themselves but is responsible for the people around them, the initiative was joined by the oldest university hospital in the country - “Alexandrovska”, whose doctors volunteer for the project at least once a month.
Almost two years after the first mission in a small town in northeastern Bulgaria, the team of medical professionals has examined over 5,000 children and provided nearly 500 pairs of glasses.
For 9 in 10 of the tested children this was their first eye test and 17% of them were diagnosed with ophthalmological problems that needed optical correction. The situation in other Eastern-European countries is unfortunately comparable to the one in Bulgaria.
In March 2014 ECJC included the Do Good mission in its list of programs and turned it into a real Pan European Project by inviting a team of doctors from Bulgaria, Turkey and France to examine the children of the Jewish school in Athens and the residents of the Restion Senior Residence in the Greek capital.
Realizing the great demand for such a project within the different Eastern European countries, and the willing of Eye doctors from different countries to volunteer their experience, ECJC decided to organize Do Good mission within different populations in Eastern Europe.
Low vision and different eye health problems have dire effects on individuals from all ages, families, and communities. These effects range from a lower attention span during school hours, lack of focus, behavioural problems, a decrease in quality of life to larger-scale social consequences.Most of the problems when diagnosed on time are usually curable, but “over two thirds of children in schooling age had never sought eye care, and an estimate of 2 children in 10 will require eye glasses of other kind of treatment.”
Do Good Missions want to ensure that all children have vision screening for lazy eye (amblyopia) between 3 and 7 years old to detect whether a child has reduced vision in one or both eyes. The earlier any problems are picked up, the better the outcome.
Do Good Mission - Athens
During March 2014, the international team of Do Good MIssions had examined all the children from the Jewish School of Athens and the residents of the Jewish Old Age Home in Athens "Restion".
This has been in collaboration with the Jewish Community of Athens.
SPECIAL DO GOOD MISSION
WITH SYRIAN REFUGEES
Do you need a Do Good MIssion in your community?
Our volunteer team of international Eye doctors is ready to execute a Do Good Mission in every place required.
If you feel your community would benefit from this initiative, please get in touch with us so we can arrange the logistics and schedule a tentative date.
For more info - dogood@ecjc.org