Painga Project visits Gisborne, pitches Celia mobile eye clinic to bring free tests to children

Painga Project chief executive Sarah Corson and the mobile optometry clinic, known as Celia, which is fitted out with two optometry stations. Photo / Kim Parkinson

A colourful optometry van called Celia visited Gisborne this week to show prospective funding partners its potential for screening children for eyesight problems at schools.

Celia is run by Painga Project, a charity that focuses on equity in schools and is looking for funding partners so it can bring free eye-testing to Tairāwhiti.

Co-founder and chief executive Sarah Corson met with interested parties to talk about getting a purpose-built mobile vision clinic.

“We want to adapt our model to support high-equity index primary and intermediate schools from Ruatōria down to Wairoa,” Corson said.

“Today we talked about starting by training some volunteer vision testers who could go around schools doing the initial testing.”

For this they need a special camera that identifies various eye problems, such as long- and short-sightedness.

“Our long-term goal is to provide dedicated and accessible wraparound mobile vision and hearing support for tamariki across the region.”

The charity began in Papakura, South Auckland, in 2018.

Guided by the needs of schools there, its purpose was to connect, build relationships and provide resources for students, schools and their communities.

It funded two 10-seater vans for schools to access experiences and support beyond their immediate surroundings.

In 2019, schools began sharing their struggles in accessing hearing and vision support.

Painga Project worked with the University of Auckland Medical School and The Hearing House to pilot a hearing and vision screening programme at Edmund Hillary School in Papakura.

Initial testing found 30% of students needed to see an optometrist on the University Vision Bus. Of those, 80% needed glasses.

In 2024, the charity bought its own hearing and vision screening equipment and gained the necessary training to use it.

Last year it set up a mobile hearing clinic called Whina, as well as Celia, its mobile optometry clinic.

The optometry bus – named after social justice advocate Celia Lashlie – had the capacity to screen 7000 children a year for glasses, Corson said.

Staffed by two optometrists, the van can assess 30 children over a typical school day (9am-3pm).

“This allows us to move quickly from screening to glasses with ongoing follow-ups all within the school day.

“There’s no reason we couldn’t work with adults as well in the region,” she said.

Painga Project works with 4900 students across 35 Auckland schools and is keen to expand into Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Northland.

Painga Project chief executive Sarah Corson and the mobile optometry clinic, which visited Gisborne this week. Photo / Kim Parkinson

The 7m-long van is fitted with two optometry testing stations. Free glasses are provided by the charitable arm of OPSM – OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation.

Celia was donated by the Ted Mason Foundation, while the optometry equipment was funded by a private trust.

Corson estimated the van, equipment and fit-out were worth about $500,000.

Painga Project has a relationship with Manaaki Tairāwhiti – the regional leadership group for social wellbeing in Tairāwhiti. Both featured in Rebecca Macfie’s book Hardship and Hope – Stories of Resistance in the Fight Against Poverty in Aotearoa.

“I am a huge admirer of Leslynne’s [Leslynne Jackson, project lead at Manaaki Tairāwhiti] work,” Corson said.

“Manaaki Tairāwhiti’s experience and knowledge has further inspired Painga Project to establish our vision and hearing project here.”