This month we are finding out a bit more about Sita Thakersi, who some of you will have met at our Lower Hutt branch. We’ll do her staff pick when she gets the flash new glasses frames she has ordered and is waiting to get.
Sita is an optometrist at Black Gates in Lower Hutt and has been part of the business since April 2011.
With 16 years’ experience, Sita was attracted to Black Gates as a well known, longstanding practice with high clinical standards that does the full range of optometry. Before Black Gates, Sita worked in Whakatane, and in 2015, she spent a brief time in Christchurch, Hamilton and Australia working as a locum.
With a family history of poor vision—her dad has keratoconus, her mum congenital cataracts and her sister has high myopia—Sita, having the best (but hardly great) vision, visited her family optometrist, Sally, regularly as a child when she was growing up in Zimbabwe.
Sita’s childhood eye examinations were a fun experience; she always looked forward to seeing Sally and wondered what could be seen through all the ‘machines’. She can still remember wanting to be ‘just like Sally’ and wanted to have a practice that whole families, like hers, went to for help with their eyesight. She can definitely tick that box working at Black Gates! Interestingly, Sally also moved to New Zealand, and Sita gets to see her at the occasional educational conference.
On the personal front, Sita and her family are originally from Zimbabwe, but her parents and sister now live in Auckland. Bailey, her 7-year-old Samoyed dog must go some way towards accounting for her enjoying very long walks, but she also likes travelling and dancing.
The long walks, travelling, and giving back using her optometry training also come together in the volunteer work Sita did with Eyes4Everest in Nepal in 2016. This saw her hiking to Everest Base Camp in the company of a group of people including other optometrists, offering primary eye health care to people in villages along the way. They even made up and sent prescription glasses to everyone that was found to need them.
Even better, Sita is on a similar volunteer trip right now, but to Annapurna Base Camp this time. For more information, or to donate, have a look at https://eyes4everest.org.au/annapurna. We’ll get back to you with a write up on her trip and some no-doubt stunning photos when she returns.
Is it time to come and see us?
It couldn’t be easier to book your eye test with us with our online booking tool. Choose your day and time and even your preferred optometrist at the touch of a button, here. We look forward to seeing you instore again soon.
