Eye care boost for Waikato kaumatua and tamariki

©Gettyimages

Waikato Tainui has signed agreements with OPSM and Triton Hearing to provide access to eye and hearing care for its kaumatua.

Heritage and identity general manager Paki Rawiri says the iwi has 11,000 registered members 60 and over.

As its kaumatua grants are mostly spent on glasses, hearing aids and medical costs, it looked to harness its buying power by seeing what the market could offer.

He says both companies have a sense of social commitment, with OPSM a part of the international philanthropic group One Sight, which recycles frames for use in third world and poor communities.

This week One Sight and OPSM tested children at Te Kura Kaupapa o Bernard Fergusson in Ngaruawahia.

"So 173 kids were assessed and 27 of them needed glasses. They’ve all now got prescriptions for free glasses so it’s those sorts of services, even though this was intended to support kaumatua, actually has the ability to benefit a lot of our whanau if you think about 27 kids that probably are in a better position to learn and achieve," Mr Rawiri says.

Paki Rawiri

Follow us on &

Copyright © 2019, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com

RELATED NEWS

Quota limits raise Māori med school challenge Auckland sludge to blanket Aotea hāpuku grounds Rich trove for Maori researcher