08 Jul 2019

Sathya Sai Centre has been commended for its continuous commitment in improving the lives of the needy.

The commendation came from Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane during the 5th Sai Students’ Vision Support Programme in Gaborone on Sunday.

Mr Tsogwane said he had been following the centre’s programmes with interest and had realised that they were aimed at improving the education and health of communities.

“Through your programme, you have restored dignity to many families and children of this country.

This therefore, ladies and gentlemen, it means that the children receiving these gifts are being given a whole new opportunity to rewrite their future,” he said.

Mr Tsogwane said stakeholder collaboration was important for enhancing performance at schools.

“The move taken by Sathya Sai Centre of Gaborone is highly commendable. I hope other players in religion countrywide will emulate this generous gesture and goodwill,” he said.

Noting that government alone could not meet all needs, Mr Tsogwane said stakeholder support and backing was therefore necessary.

Indian high commissioner to Botswana, Dr Rajesh Ranjan said Sathya Sai Global Health Mission provided free health care in over 30 countries around the globe.

In Botswana, he said its services ranged from medical and dental clinics, donating food and clothing to the needy in and around Gaborone.

He said the centre was established in 1999 and offered free medical consultation and medication every Sunday between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm through a pool of volunteer doctors and specialists – a service that has been rendered for the last 13 years. For his part, Sathya Sai Centre Trust Botswana chairperson, Dr Sonil Kadiyala explained that the student support programme reached out to students with vision problems through the help of optometrists and ophthalmologists.

The aim, he said,  was to identify students with poor vision or eye problems and rectify the problem with spectacles in order to improve their academic performance.

He said since the commencement of the outreach programme in 2015, it had grown to attract medical and non-medical volunteers to assist school children in their vision check-up and free distribution of glasses.

He said so far 21 000 patients had been attended to and that apart from eye care, they also provided physiotherapy and ultrasound services to needy members of the community.

Last year, over 600 learners from 10 senior secondary schools were assisted and 264 were offered free glasses. ENDS