Dezan Shira Volunteers to Promote Eye Care among Primary School Students

SHANGHAI – As part of Dezan Shira & Associates’ (DSA) Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the company has been increasing its pro bono work (as in our recent partnership with The Surmang Foundation) as well as community involvement.

On Friday October 17^th, 12 employees from DSA, a member of AustCham Shanghai, volunteered with AustCham CSR partner Stepping Stones’ I Care Project, a program that provides disadvantaged migrant children in Shanghai with free eye tests, treatment, spectacles and simple eye operations. According to the project website, the program “arose from Stepping Stones’ volunteers observing that eye problems among their students- some of them serious- were going untreated.”

After the initial eye tests and distribution of eyewear, I care also organizes interactive 40-minute classes with students and teachers. This important activity, which DSA volunteers participated in, emphasizes the importance of wearing glasses when necessary and raises awareness of eye care issues.

The class took place at Huabo Lixing Primary School, where students had already been fitted with the necessary glasses. “We were split into groups of 3, Shane was the lead lecturer, Nick was the assistant lecturer and I worked as the backup to my team,” said Catherine Fan, Assistant Manager in the Corporate Accounting Services Department (CAS).

According to Echo Qu, CAS Associate, “each group of three taught 2 classes. We were in charge of the entire third grade. We interacted with approximately 300 students and teachers. The students were very eager to learn.”

Senior Associate Fuki Fu was impressed by how polite the students were: “Most of them acknowledged the importance of protecting their eyes. It was a rewarding activity and we will continue to volunteer in the future if needed!”

“Without DSA volunteers, we wouldn’t have been able to successfully complete such a meaningful activity,” said Gloria Han, I Care Project’s Manager.

Dezan Shira & Associates would like to thank AustCham Shanghai and Stepping Stones for organizing such this program to help “improve the vision of the disadvantaged children in China in order to increase their chance of educational success, through the free provision of essential eye care equipment and services.”

We would also like to thank the following employees for taking the time to volunteer at the event:

Shane Cui
Catherine Fan
Fuki Fu
Cici Geng
Merlina Mao
Jimmy Qiao
Echo Qu
Ruby Shi
Nick Sun
Star Wu
Sally Yu
John Zhang

Dezan Shira & Associates is looking forward to continuing its efforts in Corporate Social Responsibility and becoming a more socially responsible firm.

About Us Dezan Shira & Associates is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia’s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices across China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam, in addition to alliances in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, as well as liaison offices in Italy, Germany and the United States.

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