Close to 100 stu­dents from sec­ondary schools across Trinidad were cel­e­brat­ed at the Trinidad Eye Hos­pi­tal’s (TEH) in­au­gur­al Es­say Writ­ing Com­pe­ti­tion prize-giv­ing cer­e­mo­ny on Sep­tem­ber 18.

The com­pe­ti­tion, launched in Ju­ly, in­vit­ed young writ­ers to ex­plore top­ics such as Food and Eye Health, The Im­por­tance of Eye Health in the Dig­i­tal World, and Eye Health and My Fu­ture: Why it Mat­ters. Be­yond recog­nis­ing their cre­ativ­i­ty, the ini­tia­tive en­sured that first-place win­ners’ schools would re­ceive free eye screen­ings and glass­es for stu­dents in need.

“Our screen­ings show that one in five stu­dents needs glass­es, yet many don’t know it or can­not af­ford them,” said Lee Ann Lazarus, man­ag­er of the Eye Screen­ing Unit.