MORE than 12 000 people are set to benefit from the Love Zimbabwe Festival eye care community health initiative aimed at providing comprehensive eye examinations and free eyeglasses to those in need. The services are being offered across four designated eye clinics in Mbare, Chitungwiza, Glen View and Glen Norah, where individuals will receive vital eye care services. Addressing journalists ahead of the Love Zimbabwe Festival gospel campaign early this week, festival national co-ordinator bishop David Chigamba said the church was providing people with free eyeglasses only for three days.
He said the programme had received at least 12 000 eyeglasses. “These have been distributed among the four centres that are holding eye clinics and our prayer is that within the time that is available from today until Thursday, many people will be looked at,” he said. “Those who do not get the eyeglasses will have them given for free, 12 000 is the target and that is what we are looking for.
“In all those places, we are doing these eyeglass clinics and people are being helped. Physically, they are being helped, but also spiritually.” Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference’s Father Johannes Maseko said the event would also serve as a platform to fight drug and substance abuse among youth. “The festival is a way of reminding the young people, number one, how special they are in the eyes of God.
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Empowered by that knowledge of self, we hope to transform, as was mentioned, the self-perception of young people, the self-value of young people, so that they can see themselves without drugs and better than being under the intoxication of drugs” Maseko said. “In terms of addressing drug and substance abuse, first of all, this will be an opportunity also for people to come and give testimonies. A lot of times, drug and substance abuse comes not only limited by, but due to lack of what to do.” Luis Palau Association evangelist Andrew Palau said the festival was not for the church, but from the church. “We have our different denominational groups and gatherings and alliances just so we can think straight, you know, and keep organised and we have some various things that we think and consider and discuss and land maybe a little differently, but under the banner of Jesus Christ we are one,” he said.
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