Optometrist sets sights on 3000km walk to help underprivileged Africans

Hastings optometrist Niall McCormack (left) with Havelock North Rotary Club Rotary Foundation chairman Peter Mayne and some of more than 1300 pairs of glasses for Tanzania. Photo / Supplied

A Hastings optometrist dedicated to providing eye care for underprivileged people in Africa has now set sights on a huge fundraising challenge walk.

Niall McCormack founded the charity, Eye Care For Africa, in 2017 after volunteering to provide eye care to children and their carers at an orphanage in Uganda.

He saw the level of need and created the charity which now provides eye care to some of the most marginalised people in the countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.

McCormack begins a 3000-kilometre walk of the Te Araroa trail, which extends the length of the country from Cape Reinga to Bluff, on Tuesday morning to raise funds to build a small eye clinic in Shinyanga, a remote part of Northern Tanzania.

He said he got the idea to do the fundraiser a couple of years ago and was now finally putting it into action.

"It seemed a good idea two years ago, but 24 hours short I'm thinking 'What have I let myself in for?'," he laughed.

McCormack said Eye Care For Africa has a tentative target of $200,000 to build the clinic, and it has raised $40,000 overall so far through various fundraising.

He said that he hoped Eye Care For Africa raised enough to also support its scholarship for a Hawke's Bay student to experience Eye Care for Africa's work, which has been paused for the last couple of years due to Covid.

He said he understood the average length of time it takes to walk the trail is about 130 days, which is how long he expects to take.

"I want to try to do it in one hit, but sometimes you have to take a break for recovery for a week or two, a month or whatever. There is no shame in doing it as a sectioned walk if that becomes the case."

He said now that restrictions were lifting his next trip to Africa was going to be in May and he hoped to take a couple of colleagues with him.

"We've got a great bunch of Tanzanian people on the ground who are just very trustworthy and have just got their heart in the right place."

"They're a family that have run an orphanage for about 20 or 30 years and we've got that connection going there that is something very, very reliable. It is something we can trust."

The Rotary Club of Havelock North led a project which saw Hawke's Bay Rotary clubs collect more than 1300 pairs of glasses that will be repurposed and taken to Tanzania next year by McCormack.

The chairman of Havelock North Rotary Club's Rotary Foundation Committee, Peter Mayne, said the club originally aimed to collect 1000 pairs of used glasses for the project.

"We're delighted at the response and, with the help of other Hawke's Bay Rotary clubs, have exceeded our target to support this vital work and improve the lives of so many in the most marginalised areas of East Africa."

He said there was a cut-off date for collection in September, but if people were happy to continue supporting it, then Eye Care For Africa would be happy to collect.

"We may start a collection for a later stage next year, because the need will be ongoing."

The Givealittle page for the Te Araroa walk at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/eye-care-for-africa-te-araroa has raised $2800 so far in 14 days.

The aims of Eye Care For Africa include servicing the eye care of orphans in East Africa, providing local training to enable eye care to become more sustainable, providing equipment to enable local people to continue the services and providing a scholarship for a Hawke's Bay student to experience Eye Care for Africa's work.