NEWS DATES EVENTSSCHOOL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
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April, 2007
Pilot fundraising program to reduce cataract blindness in developing countiries Seven Melbourne Grammar Year 10 students travelled to Vietnam in late March to observe the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation and have returned as ambassadors for the charity by urging every student at Melbourne Grammar to donate $25 and save a person’s sight. Melbourne Grammar and the Fred Hollows Foundation have established a partnership to run this pilot student fundraising program at Melbourne Grammar with the hope it will be adopted by other schools locally and nationally. In Vietnam Melbourne Grammar students visited two eye hospitals and met people suffering cataract blindness, observed operations and met people who have had their sight restored. They visited Dai Loc District Hospital in Quang Nam Province and the Hue Eye Hospital in Hue. The trip provided students with first hand knowledge of the Fred Hollows Foundation’s work in Vietnam and now students are raising awareness of the charity at Melbourne Grammar School and establishing a fundraising program. “The trip to Vietnam has provided students with an appreciation and first hand experience of the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation and the problems facing people in the developing world, along with an appreciation of other cultures and the realisation that if everyone contributes you can change people’s quality of life,” said Melbourne Grammar Headmaster Paul Sheahan. “With only $A25 required to restore cataract blindness, every student can significantly impact someone’s life by fundraising for the Fred Hollows Foundation,” said Mr Sheahan. “This program demonstrates leadership in action; seven future leaders are making a difference and working towards a better society,” said Mr Sheahan. “An appreciation of the world is a key value at Melbourne Grammar and this trip has enabled students to experience the lives and culture of people quite different to their own,” said Mr Sheahan. “This trip has provided us with greater knowledge of how the Fred Hollows Foundation works to improve health and correct diseased eyes in countries like Vietnam,” said Year 10 student Patrick Beguely. “I gained a better understanding of a developing country and now we plan to make an impact and help create awareness of the Fred Hollows Foundation. This has been a life changing experience and I feel so grateful to be part of it,” said Year 10 student Ben Lane. The Fred Hollows Foundation is a not-for-profit, community-based, non-government development aid organisation whose vision is of a world where no one is needlessly blind and of a land where Indigenous people enjoy the same health outcomes as all Australians. 
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