Prais­ing the stake­hold­ers of the Rapid­fire Kidz Foun­da­tion for help­ing chil­dren, the head of the Po­lice Ser­vice Vic­tim Sup­port Unit Supt Claire Guy-Al­leyne has un­der­scored the im­por­tance of com­mu­ni­ty in help­ing vul­ner­a­ble peo­ple.

Speak­ing at the foun­da­tion’s Eyes Right han­dover cer­e­mo­ny held at Na­pari­ma Col­lege in San Fer­nan­do over the week­end, Guy-Al­leyne em­pha­sised the pro­found im­pact of clear vi­sion on chil­dren’s lives.

Say­ing vi­sion is not just about sight but al­so about “in­sight, fore­sight, and the abil­i­ty to dream,” Guy-Al­leyne said: “It (poor vi­sion) ham­pers their so­cial de­vel­op­ment. It di­min­ish­es their qual­i­ty of life and con­fi­dence when chil­dren have im­paired vi­sion.”

A to­tal of 35 pupils from Pleas­antville Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School re­ceived free glass­es from the foun­da­tion’s Eyes Right Project. Col­lab­o­rat­ing with Re­pub­lic Bank Ltd and See-Vu Op­ti­cal Ltd, Rapid­fire aimed to ad­dress the press­ing need for vi­sion cor­rec­tion among school-aged chil­dren, es­pe­cial­ly those who can­not af­ford eye care.

Guy-Al­leyne com­mend­ed the ef­forts of the Rapid­fire Kidz Foun­da­tion and its founder, at­tor­ney Kevin Rati­ram, for their com­mit­ment to im­prov­ing the lives of chil­dren.

Say­ing there must be a col­lab­o­ra­tion to up­lift vul­ner­a­ble pop­u­la­tions, Guy-Al­leyne said: “When we come to­geth­er to sup­port each oth­er, there is no lim­it to what we can achieve.”

Mean­while, Rati­ram echoed Guy-Al­leyne’s sen­ti­ments, em­pha­sis­ing the trans­for­ma­tive pow­er of pro­vid­ing glass­es to chil­dren in need.

“They are not just im­prov­ing eye­sight. They are open­ing the world to our chil­dren,” he re­marked, high­light­ing the pro­found im­pact of clear vi­sion on chil­dren’s ed­u­ca­tion­al out­comes and fu­ture op­por­tu­ni­ties.

He ex­pressed grat­i­tude to the spon­sors and vol­un­teers who made the Eyes Right Project pos­si­ble.

“To­day, this func­tion is not just about your chil­dren com­ing to get glass­es. There is a greater sig­nif­i­cance be­cause if a child can­not see well, can that child learn prop­er­ly?” he ques­tioned, as he un­der­scored the crit­i­cal role of vi­sion in chil­dren’s ed­u­ca­tion­al suc­cess.

Rati­ram al­so praised the par­ents and guardians in at­ten­dance for their ded­i­ca­tion to their chil­dren’s well-be­ing and aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess.

“How many times do we high­light or com­pli­ment good par­ents? How many times do we com­pli­ment the fa­thers who are there for their chil­dren? Be­cause of you, your son or daugh­ter is not lim­ing with a gang leader,” he added.

He ap­plaud­ed the good par­ents of T&T who take an ac­tive part in their chil­dren’s lives, adding that it was im­por­tant to ac­knowl­edge the sac­ri­fices of par­ents.

Al­so at­tend­ing the func­tion were the pres­i­dent of the Greater San Fer­nan­do Area Cham­ber of Com­merce Ki­ran Singh, Re­pub­lic Bank rep­re­sen­ta­tive Hamant Lal­la and See-Vu Op­ti­cal Ltd pres­i­dent Prem Sookdeo.