Stars help for the blind

Pro-am raises cash to help Zimbabwe people see again

Golfmagic correspondent
Wed, 17 Oct 2001
Stars help for the blind

Some of the top Evian Ladies European Tour players joined forces with former World snooker champion Dennis Taylor to raise over £21,000 for the Eyes for Zimbabwe funds and local charities from a pro-am tournament on the Portuguese Algarve this week.
Tour pros at a Zimbabwe clinic.

Organised by German Elisabeth Esterl, the Eyes for Zimbabwe charity is the brainchild of Reeve Nield, caddie and manager for South African Tour player Laurette Maritz and proceeds go to providing medicines and equipment for life-changing cataract operations in remote areas of Zimbabwe.

Also taking part were Norwegians Cecilie Lundgreen and Vibeke Stensrud, Holland's Judith van Hagen, Nicola Moult and Rachel Kirkwood from England and Australian Alison Munt.

"Due to a combination of genetics and the environment around 80,000 people in Zimbabwe, including young babies are almost blind," says Neeve, "but it just takes around £30 and 15 minutes for an operation that can change a person's life. To have the eye patches removed and discover that they can see again is so uplifting."

Already they have paid for almost 1600 operations with auctions and pro-ams in Norway, and at the WPGA International Matchplay at Gleneagles, where Stephen Hendry and Laura Davies were among the generous contributors.

For the Portuguese charity ACA, the money will go towards installing a padded room for severely disabled children, sports equipment for abandoned girls in a local orphanage and a programme to teach street children and their parents to read and write.