FEBRUARY 2018 // lionmagazine.org Envisioning a Better Future Lions fight vision loss on all fronts Lions take the stage in las vegas LIONS 101st ANNUAL JUNE 29 - JULY 3 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA INTERNATIONAL 2018 MGM Grand* CONVENTION Hear Inspirational Speakers Celebrate the 50th Anniversary Enjoy the Biggest Names in Entertainment of LCIF Attend Thought-Provoking Seminars Get an Incredible Convention Experience… All Under One Roof! Join the International Parade of Nations LCICon.org *Lions receive special rates at the MGM Grand, Luxor, New York New York and Monte Carlo hotels. //FEBRUARY 2018 13 Volume 100 Number 7 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 13 3 President’s Message Our Vision Mission 6 First Roar Looking to the future of our role as Knights of the Blind. 8 Service 18 9 Service Abroad Destination: Las Vegas See the famous attractions and secret 26 Foundation Impact spots of the vibrant 2018 convention city. 18 28 Club News 24 She Doesn’t Do Eyeballs ALSO FEATURED New technology enables diabetic retinopathy “dictator” to screen more than 6,500 people in six months. 10 Executive Summary VIDEOS THE VAULT Haven’t had enough hearing about all the good THE BLIND AND YOU vision work Lions are doing? These videos will Check out this column, written in 1968 by a blind brighten your day. Headquarters staff member, in which they make the 24 case for doing proper research before embarking on a BRIANNA’S STORY project to help the blind to be sure your efforts have the Bloomfield Lions Club vision screening saves the life of impact you hoped. The writer asks that the blind should a kindergartener by detecting a cancerous tumor with “be at last recognized as independent and self-sufficient WE SERVE its photoscreening camera. individuals who are capable of being contributing members of society.” MISSION STATEMENT OF LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL: HIGHER KEY AWARDS To empower volunteers to serve their Lions honored for sponsoring members. communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs. We want to hear from you! CONTACTING THE LION Is your club doing service work to help the envi- For change of address, non-receipt of the ronment? We want to hear about it. Let us know magazine and other subscription issues, contact 630-468-6982 or MemberServiceCenter@ TAKING CARE OF KIDS, MIGRANT WORKERS, about the good work you’re doing by writing us at lionsclubs.org. For all other inquiries call AND VETERANS lionmagazine.org and use “Environment service” 630-571-5466. Have a story idea or photo? Want The Arizona Lions Vision Center provides screenings at in your subject line. to comment on a story or make a suggestion for little or no cost, serving close to 15,000 people per year LION editors? Contact the LION at lionmagazine@ and providing about 13,000 pairs of eyeglasses—many to lionsclubs.org or at 630-468-6798. people who haven’t seen well their whole life. SUBSCRIPTION Subscription price, US$6.00 year, US$12.00 year mailed outside North America; Single copies, US$1.00. FEBRUARY 2018 // LION 1 From the frontlines of service to the palm of your hand Introducing the LION Magazine app Instant access to a world of stories An exciting multimedia user-experience Available on Apple iOS and Android today Beginning January 2018, LION will publish 6 bi-monthly print and digital issues, plus 5 extra digital-only issues. Don’t miss a single issue. Download your LION Magazine App today! LionMagazine.org // PRESIDENT’S// PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE IT TAKES VISION ➡ NAMASTE! She could not have imagined how dif- This is what we do. In the last three and ferent normal life would be nearly 100 a half years, we have served 29 million Lions have years later, but like any great thinker, people in the area of sight, involving been Knights of over 26,000 clubs worldwide. As I write the Blind since her directive remains relevant. How Helen Keller’s do we help the blind to truly integrate this, I am in South America where we famous 1925 into the world? And how do we help have served 600,000 people in the area call to arms, prevent or reverse the varied causes of of River Blindness (Onchocerciasis). working to blindness? We know that great advances don’t end prevent- We create assistive technologies that happen without backing by people able blindness make everyday functions more acces- who have the vision to believe in the and visual impairment. However, it’s sible to the blind. And we help make end goal. People who see in the light important to remember that Keller sure those technologies are available have sight. People who see in darkness was not casting the blind as fairytale to the very people who need them. If have vision. It takes bravery to back maidens in need of rescue. She quite it isn’t affordable, it isn’t accessible. new ideas and to actively seek out clearly wanted Lions to help the blind There are many ways we can help— people who may need help rather than community integrate into the world. guide dogs, electronic canes, mobile wait for them to find us. But Lions are For Lions, service ends when the peo- brave. It takes vision to create change. ple served can serve their families and apps, inclusive social events, etc. And all Lions—sighted or not—have community. We use our network and collective vision. She said, “The time has come to regard expertise to identify promising areas of the work for the sightless as a whole, in scientific and medical research in which which the kindergarten, the school, the to invest. I urge your club to plan a library, the workshop, the home for the project in sight—it could be surgeries aged blind and prevention are seen to (cataract, trachoma, diabetic retinopa- be parts of a great movement with one thy) or recycling eyeglasses or screening end in view, namely making life more young kids for refractive errors or any DR. NARESH AGGARWAL worth living for the blind everywhere.” other type of project in this area. LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT FEBRUARY 2018 // LION 3 Global Vision Impairment Data 2015 – an overview THE WORLD POPULATION 7.3 BILLION 36 217 253 MILLION + MILLION = MILLION PEOPLE PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE ARE ARE VISUALLY BLIND MSVI IMPAIRED CHANGE IN 89% OF PREVALENCE VISUALLY IMPAIRED OF VISUAL PEOPLE IMPAIRMENT LIVE IN LOW 5% & MIDDLE 4% 4.58% 55% INCOME 3% OF VISUALLY 3.38% COUNTRIES 2% IMPAIRED 1% PEOPLE 0% ARE WOMEN Data correct as at 23rd Oct 2017 4 LION // LIONMAGAZINE.ORG // THE BIG PICTURE BILLION PEOPLE WITH SIMPLY BECAUSE NEAR-VISION THEY DO NOT HAVE A PAIR OF 1.1 IMPAIRMENT SPECTACLES AMD 4.1% Cataract 25.8% Corneal Opacity 1.7% CAUSES OF VISUAL DR 1.2% IMPAIRMENT Glaucoma 2.8% URE 49.0% Trachoma 0.8% Other 14.7% OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IS AVOIDABLE 75% The number of visually impaired, the percentages for women and for those living in low and middle income countries, and the change in prevalence, all relate to distance-vision impairment. MSVI = the number with severe or moderate visual impairment. In order to enable comparisons over time, the age-standardised prevalence (all ages) is shown. An ultra-conservative definition of avoidable blindness is shown based upon the prevalence of Cataract, Refractive Error and Trachoma only. Other conditions are at least partially avoidable. The latest estimates for 2015 produced by the Vision Loss Expert Group and published in the Lancet © IAPB Vision Atlas IAPB Vision Atlas http://atlas.iapb.org // FIRST ROAR CONTEST WINNER FOCUSES ON CHILDHOOD CANCER The Medan Stallion Leo Club from Indonesia is the winner of this year’s International Leo Making an Impact Day Video Contest, with their short film, “They Need Us,” focusing on childhood cancer and in Pittsburgh the devastating impact it has on families. The Medan Stallion Leos aim to better educate the medical community to get earlier diagnoses, and help dispel the myth that cancer is contagious. They serve their local community by bringing parents and children together through entertainment and play. You can watch the winning video at lionmagazine.org. Watch “They Need Us” Getty Images The New Alexandria Lions Club’s Demolition Derby can add national TV to the list of things its crushed. The club’s event was featured on an episode of the CNN show “Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain.” The October 22 “Parts Unknown: Pittsburgh” episode featured chicken paprika at Jozsa Corner in Hazelwood, bocce in Bloomfield, and Westmoreland County’s own demolition derby run by the New Alexandria Lions Club. The Lions were eager to accommodate the show, seeking out a venue where they could control the crowd. The derbies are the largest fundraising event Milpitas Executive Lions Club for the New Alexandria Lions and are typically held throughout the summer at the Lions grounds. Proceeds “PEACE” TREE SHOWCASES are dispersed among 50 different charities and LION CONTEST PARTICIPANTS community resources. The Milpitas Executive Lions Club was one Lion Fred Lydick says funds raised during the filming of nine organizations invited to decorate a went to the Lions Club Lunchables Backpack program, Christmas tree to be displayed in Bob McGuire which provides weekend meals and snacks for local Amphitheater at the Milpitas Civic Center in schoolchildren. “We thought it would be a little free California. advertising, if you will,” Lydick says. “The more money we raise, the more we can give.” Their tree was themed “PEACE,” and The episode itself received mixed reviews, with a lot showcased the Peace Poster Contest winners of Pittsburgh locals less than pleased at the focus on throughout the years, including 2009 Grand the city’s collapsed steel industry, lack of diversity, Prize winner, Yennie Schu, who was sponsored and concerns over whether the growing tech industry by the Milpitas Executive Lions Club.