Cartagena de Indias, May 23, 2022.  With more than 2,800 visual assessments for children and young people from the educational institution and the delivery of 313 medicated glasses to date, the University of Sinú, Cartagena section, continues to bet on the social development of the Cartagena community.

The extension and social projection of the Universidad del Sinú, Cartagena section, is intimately linked to the philosophy and institutional mission, managing to generate an identity and social approach throughout the university community, which allows articulating teaching actions with those of extension and research, based on the improvement of the social, political and economic conditions of Cartagena's society and population.

That is why, within the framework of its social responsibility, the Ciudadela 2000 Institutional Macro Project is being developed, which allows the academic programs of the university to be carried out in this area of the city to carry out intervention and create a positive impact, having based on a number of needs due to multiple factors.

The School of Optometry of the Universidad del Sinú is committed to providing effective and comprehensive solutions to refractive errors as the leading cause of visual problems in the world and our community through direct interventions in the population and delivery of lenses and treatments to the most unprotected children. of the city”, assured Dr. Carlos Alfonso Rojas, director of the program.

In 2012, and as a commitment to development and institutional social responsibility, this Macro Project begins its first phase, with programs in the health area, in 2016 the second phase is executed in which 12 academic programs are involved, currently They are in the third phase of the project (year 2021 to 2025), in which all the schools are involved.

One of the programs that has been carried out is "I Want to See", by the School of Optometry in alliance with the International NGO Charity Vision, which aims to improve the quality of life of children and young people from 4 years to 17 years of the Ciudadela 2000 Educational Institution, carrying out visual assessment sessions to follow up on refractive errors through the prescription and adaptation of corrective optical means of any kind, stories such as specialized glasses.

“The truth is that I am very happy to be part of this project, my child benefited and what more benefit than giving him the opportunity to improve his vision and as a result the quality of education, I thank the university for this project and that it continues to provide well-being to much more children adds Derlis, a mother of a child who is a beneficiary of the project.

Within the framework of this alliance, with the participation of the School of Optometry, in 2016 1,391 children were treated and 196 lenses were delivered, in 2018 the students are followed up and new beneficiaries are reviewed, in which 1,207 children and 92 lenses were delivered; In 2021, 235 children have been treated through visual screening and 25 lenses have been delivered, which means that to date more than 2,800 children and young people from the educational institution have been treated and 313 glasses have been delivered.