Darkness, Hesitancy, Obfuscation…

Those feelings may not be experienced by each and every one of us every day but the blind people do feel those feelings every day, every minute, every second. We enjoy our life through what we see. But within us, within our society, there are people who cannot enjoy their life through what they see, because what they see is, the Darkness!

Yes, they are the people without sight.

According to the W.H.O Report on Vision 2019 released ahead of World Sight Day which fell on 10th October, “at least 2.2 Billion people have vision impairments or blindness of which 1 Billion cases could have been prevented or have yet to be addressed”.

W.H.O Director-General further adds that the lack of access to a pair of glasses is one of the many reasons behind these circumstances. It is a tragedy that people suffer without sight and it is a disaster when the reason behind that is the lack of access to a pair of glasses.

The Rotary Club of Colombo Midtown along with the Rotaract Clubs of Colombo Midtown, Australian College of Business and Technology, University of Colombo Faculty of Management and Finance and Achievers Lanka Business School came together and organized the BLIND WALK 2019 with the theme “One Child – One future” and it was aimed to raise funds to provide spectacles for 500 school children. Participants who wished to contribute to this worthy cause were given the opportunity of purchasing a ticket.

Nearly 150-200 participants including rotarians, rotaractors and non – rotaractors gathered at the Royal College Union Skills Center on the 12th of October at 2.30 pm. Without considering the sunny weather, the walk started with eyes covered with a blindfold, holding each other’s’ hands. This walk was a challenge for the participants and they accepted the challenge of walking without seeing, while getting the experience of difficulties faced by blind people every day, how helpless and apathetic a blind can feel. This walk was an experience to understand how hard life is without sight.

“The feelings I could experience after walking with closed eyes touched me deeply” Rtr.Faizal Nallawangsa from Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura stated after the walk.

To mark the conclusion of the Blind Walk, an Open Mic Session was organized at Royal College Union Skills auditorium where various entertainment items were put into motion. The participants were given refreshments, a certificate of participation and most importantly a remarkable experience and a self- satisfactory feeling of contributing for a great project.

– Rtr. Chamika Wickramarathne –