Yvonne Nelson takes glaucoma campaign to schools

Yvonne Nelson poses for a photo with some school children

Star actress Yvonne  Nelson is leaving no stone unturned in her quest to create awareness on glaucoma and its negative impact on society.

She is offering a two-week fully-paid holiday trip to the UK, to entice Ghanaian students to join her in the fight against glaucoma.

Her glaucoma foundation, which was launched last October to raise awareness and educate people about the ailment, has introduced a Glaucoma Essay Competition among students across the country.

The main winner will work with Yvonne's foundation and also get attractive prizes including laptops, two-week holiday in the UK and other packages. The competition, which would take off late this year, is to further raise awareness and convey her message about the disease to every Ghanaian via students.

It will start from basic schools in the Greater Accra Region, where a registered number of pupils from various selected basic schools will be encouraged to write essays on a glaucoma topic provided by Yvonne's Glaucoma Foundation. A team of teachers will then mark the essays and winners will be picked.

Schools in Accra and Tema expected to take part in the essay competition include St. Michael Junior High School at Nungua, First Star Academy, SOS School, Tema Parents School, Datus Complex school, Creator Schools, Angels School, Michel Camp Schools, Witsand School, Happy Home School and Naval Base School, among others.

Yvonne will be touring each of these schools ahead of the competition to interact with students, while tasking them to carry the glaucoma message home to their parents to get screened.

Last Friday, the leggy actress was at St. Michael's Junior High School at Nungua. She received a rousing welcome from both students and officials of the school, who applauded her efforts in taking the glaucoma awareness to their school.

She told them glaucoma is a deadly disease and that one contracts it without knowing that he or she has it as there are no symptoms. She therefore advised children to educate their parents to go for screening.

She told them that the next time she visits the school, she expects certificates from those who went for screening upon her advice. She also noted that her foundation hopes to build a bigger platform for people to come for free screening in the future.