When a young Carla Cassiano agreed to be part of a refraction technique training, she was unsure what it entailed but looking back years later she believes that it was the best decision she has made as not only is she now a qualified optometrist but she has been able to use her skills to make eye care more accessible in hinterland regions.
The latter in particular makes Cassiano’s journey thus far worthwhile and one that she continues even now as she has taken her career further by enrolling at the University of Guyana (UG) to become a medical doctor.
The first-year medical student vows that regardless of what happens in the future she will continue to provide accessible eye care to the hinterland regions. Not only has she volunteered her service in many communities over the years, but she has also opened Cassiano’s Fashion Eyewear in Lethem, Region Nine. While she hails from Moco Moco Village in Region Nine, setting up the business in Lethem was more convenient.
In 2018, she graduated from UG with a bachelor’s degree in optometry, but prior to that in 2012 she underwent basic refraction technique training for one year, which taught her the basics of testing of the eyes.
“At first it was not something I really knew about. My mom is a teacher and I was asked to go on the training… As I got into it that is when I started to understand what it was and then the outreaches and the exposure at the Georgetown Public Hospital and all of that gave me an idea as to what it was about,” Cassiano told Stabroek Weekend in a recent interview.
Through the training, she realised that eye care was not readily available in the hinterland regions and this propelled her to become a volunteer; in the past she has worked along with the Ministry of Health. This has seen her conducting outreaches in the hinterland and whenever asked by the ministry she would readily make herself available.
“Not everybody would want to go to the hinterland but I would do it. I have travelled to almost all ends of Guyana, mostly in the hinterland region… A lot of people need the service and, for example, once I go home they would say, ‘Oh you are here, I need to test my eyes, I need this, I need that…,’” she explained.
Even when they visit Georgetown they would contact her for assistance to navigate the system and there are times she would be an advocate for patients, not just those who are seeking eye care.
Happy
Cassiano said she is not only happy that she has managed to further her studies in optometry but also open her business even as she continues to conduct outreaches not only in Region Nine but in other regions.
“I still take my services to other hinterland communities because I know they need it and most of them appreciate it because remember the cost to travel, and the cost of spectacles and hotel accommo-dation. It is cheaper for them that way if somebody go to them than they having to travel,” she said.
Cassiano said she tests eyes and also provides spectacles at a reduced cost and there are times when she would also give free glasses to school children or older persons. From time to time, she submits reports from those outreaches to the Ministry of Health to provide updates on who needs surgeries or other services that she is unable to provide.
Recently, she visited small commu-nities in Region Eight and she found that the service is really needed there. She pointed out that some people might develop serious eye problems or even go blind for want of simple spectacles to correct their vision in the early stages.
The feedback from residents to the outreaches has been tremendous. Some indicate they never believed eye care would become available in their home village. Cassiano said she has been as far as Marudi in Region Nine and the residents there were surprised as many of them who live there hardly leave the community because of the distance.
The mother of two is currently based in Georgetown while she attends UG, but she receives assistance from her mother who makes appointments and she would let them accumulate then visit on a weekend, “do what I have to do then come back”, she said. The business also helps to pay for her studies at UG because, as she puts it, “the struggle is real”.
But with her studies intensifying, Cassiano said she is looking at finding balance even as she attempts to set up a proper clinic and employ someone full time as there are people with similar training who do not have jobs. In Georgetown she does not have a location, but people who travel from the interior would contact her to have their eyes tested; there are times when she also does home visits.
“People know me and is how you treat people they would always remember and sometimes two years would pass and they would always keep coming back because of what you would have
done for them…I have patients from way back in 2012 that would still be looking for me…,” she said.
Blessing in disguise
Looking forward, Cassiano said while she is taking medical school one day at a time more than likely she would specialise and become an ophthalmologist since she already has the foundation.
She said some people ask her why she wasted her time by “doing a whole degree” and now moving to complete her medical studies. But for her the first degree was a “blessing in disguise”.
She pointed out that her previous degree assists her tremendously in her ongoing studies and she pointed out that she was able to establish her business before moving on to medical school.
Medical school became important to her because her mom and grandmother are both diabetic and her family’s history of diabetes. Additionally, during outreaches she has seen ailments that she is unable to diagnose or treat and this makes her feel helpless. “So that is how I decided to go into med to have a proper understanding of other diseases…so I would be able to do more, that is one of the main reasons,” she explained.
While she has intention of getting the needed experience at the Georgetown Public Hospital initially, Cassiano said she has every intention of taking her service to hinterland regions.
As the mother of an eight-year-old and one-year-old, Cassiano said she is unsure at times how she manages to complete all that she needs to do.
“To be honest I can’t find the words, because everybody keeps asking how and I really don’t know how I do it to be honest… But I am trying. Sometimes the business can get really stressful but you have to do something if you want something,” Cassiano said.
She said her partner assists her a lot with caring for their two children.
Cassiano admitted that at times manning her business can prove to be stressful as some people want services to be rendered almost immediately which at times clashes with her classes. “I have started training someone else so I don’t have to do everything,” she said.
Talking about her childhood days in Moco Moco, Cassiano said she is thankful for a simple religious upbringing. She has one sibling. Her mom was a teacher and her father a farmer and initially they had no electricity and of course no television. “It was a peaceful childhood. I grew up with my cousins around, grandparents and uncles,” she said. She remembered that her mother would sit next to her with a slipper in hand to ensure that she did her homework while she looked with envy at the other children playing.
Using her family’s name on the business was a proud moment for them all she said, adding that she believes they are the only family in Guyana with that name since her great grandmother migrated from Brazil and relocated to Region Nine.
The former St Ignatius Secondary School student advises young people from hinterland communities to not to get sidetracked as the distractions would be many.
“If you want change you have to move out of your comfort zone but also keep on track. If you set out to do something, focus on that and I would advise them to grab all opportunities,” she said.
She pointed out that it is a sacrifice to move to another community to develop themselves and young people should not allow that to go to waste or to disappoint their parents.
“And don’t allow anyone to say you can’t do it, if you want something you do your best and you will achieve it, perseverance works,” she advised.
