Lion's Club helps the visually impaired once again!

"This we are going to take and run with it, as they would say, because we think this is something very meaningful for Lion's Club, as we have always been identified with sight (and) it would be beneficial to the respective countries where you have Lion's Clubs," Carmen Chen, the public relations officer for the Caribbean Lions, told the Observer.

She was speaking following the club's first cabinet meeting, held recently in Ocho Rios.
She did not give a specific timeline for the completion of the project, noting that the clubs would have to liaise with their respective territories and make the necessary arrangements. She was hopeful, however, that it would get underway shortly.

"We have visually impaired persons in the government now and we should do all we can to get this database so we can promote and develop persons with this physical disability," she said.

Minister of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, Aloun Assamba has, meanwhile, urged the club to take on bigger and more meaningful projects and to become more visible.

"I challenge you to be more visible, to do projects that will impact a wider community than what you now serve. You might think that I am pulling you out of your comfort zone, but that's my challenge to you. I challenge you so our country can see more of the work you are doing," she said.

Chen, for her part, said that the Lions Club movement in Jamaica has been looking at sustainable development projects and she identified the Heart Foundation of Jamaica as one institution started by the Lion's Club of Kingston. Her own club, the Lion's Club of South St Andrew Central, has been involved in promotion of a basic school in that area, she said.

"We are doing the good work, but we are hiding it under a bushel and we don't intend to do that anymore, we want to give full visibility to our projects," Chen said.