HANAMA‘ULU — The WE, a hui for health that offered free on-site health screenings, ended Saturday, but the Vision Van had one more trip to do Tuesday at the Hanama‘ulu housing. Besides offering another round of free eye testing and
HANAMA‘ULU — The WE, a hui for health that offered free on-site health screenings, ended Saturday, but the Vision Van had one more trip to do Tuesday at the Hanama‘ulu housing.
Besides offering another round of free eye testing and retinal screening, the van, along with the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, was greeted by a video crew from the Lions International who stopped off in Hawai‘i en route to the Mainland after attending the Lions International convention in Korea.
“Basically, we do about seven or eight pieces a year from all over,” said Melita Cutright, the public relations officer for the Lions International crew. “We’ve been to China, Africa, Europe, doing outstanding Lions Clubs, but we’ve never been to Hawai‘i.”
Roy Nishida of the East Kaua‘i Lions Club said several of the clubs on Kaua‘i were selected to be filmed by the crew including the West Kaua‘i club who was joined by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and Adriana Neamtu of Romania, a Lions International Youth Camp student. The West Kaua‘i club was selected for its work in cleaning the roads in Waimea, and the North Shore Lions Club for its work creating a garden in conjunction with the Church of the Pacific in Princeville to help feed the homeless and needy.
Cutright said they also stopped off in Honolulu to do a piece on a club involved in the Safe Streets program.
Sandy Sterker of the EK Lions Club said Neamtu, as a Lions International Youth Camper, spends four weeks working with the Lions program in doing work with the hosting clubs.
Tuesday, Neamtu worked with the EK Lions in conducting the free eye and retinal testing.
Her youth was an asset in communicating with the younger children who flocked around the Vision Van parked in front of the housing project’s clubhouse, also being filmed by the Lions International video crew.
“We’re not just doing the testing,” Nishida said. “We also have free reading glasses and sunglasses for those who come for the testing.”
Among those arriving for the tests, Dely Sasaki, a retired state Department of Health employee, had her friend Laverne Inanod, a resident of Kilauea who is employed at CG’s Hair Vibration in Hanama‘ulu.
Sasaki said Inanod needed cataract surgery, but her insurance did not cover the cost of the surgery.
“When Dr. Larry Sherrer hosted the Free Eye Care Day in November, I told her to take advantage of that service,” Sasaki said. “When Dr. Sherrer saw her, he asked her to return for another visit where he confirmed her need for surgery to correct the problem.”
Sasaki, faced with the problem of not having insurance to cover the cost of surgery, turned to Nishida, and asked, what can the Lions Clubs do?
Anne Hiller of the Lions Foundation became involved, trying to establish partnerships on Kaua‘i to help Inanod.
“She apologized because it took so long,” Sasaki said. “In December, Inanod could not pass her driver’s renewal and has been taking the bus to and from work and when friends were not available to help her.”
Seven months later, Sasaki said Inanod is now going to get her surgery on July 27 at the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital.
“She doesn’t need to fly to O‘ahu for the procedure,” Nishida said. “She gets to do it at home.”
Sasaki said a doctor is going to donate his services to do the procedure, which is considered a same-day surgery. And the $2,500 in expenses that are not going to be covered by her insurance is almost taken care of.
“There was a church who said they had $2,000 they could apply to help Inanod,” Sasaki said. “We’re going on vacation, so maybe when we get back we’ll host a garage sale in hopes of trying to raise the remaining $500.”
Nishida said Inanod’s story represents what they found during the WE, which went to where people really needed the service.
“This is so good,” Nishida said. “It’s about a Kaua‘i person needing help and how everyone got together to come up with the help needed to help the patient resume a normal life.”
