On behalf of the members of the Rotary Club of St. Albert President Lynn King presented Dr. Kim Bugera with the Paul Harris Fellow recognition on Friday, May 10.  The presentation was made at a joint meeting in St. Albert with members of the St.Albert Rotary Club, Saint City Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Morinville.

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges Bugera and her husband Peter Laansoo for their “tangible and significant assistance given to the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.”  The Capital Vision Care optometrist and her husband were in the Philippines where they helped with eye care in central Manila in 2015.  The Eye Train, located at the Philippines National Railway Terminal at Tutulan Station, was made possible by Canadian Vision Care and a group of Alberta doctors of optometry who dragged the train up the tracks refurbished it into an eye clinic.  As of 2015 Bugera and her husband have made more than 15 trips around the world.

She has shared her passion for helping others through involvement in vision care missions in more than ten developing countries, including Peru, Kenya, Philippines and Malawi in 2018.  In March this year, Bugera and her husband, nine optometrists in total, left for another trip- this time to Cambodia for a Vision Care Outreach in Kampong Cham.

Story content by Lucie Roy of the Morinville News May 2019