Blind walk 2022

Kindness is a language…
Which the blind can see…
and the deaf can hear…

Another inspiring project, “Blind walk 2022” took place on the 22nd of October 2022 at Viharamadevi Park open-air theater. The blind walk is an annually organized event around the globe to commemorate “World Sight Day”. This initiative was taken up by the Rotaract Club of Colombo Midtown along with the Rotaract club of Achievers Lanka Business School, the Rotaract club of Australian College of Business and Technology, and the Rotaract club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance. The aim of this project which was organized by the Community Service Avenue of RACUOCFMF was to create awareness of the issues faced by the visually impaired and to promote eye donations as a means of sharing the gift of vision. Despite the rainy weather conditions, this year we had the privilege to conduct the walk as a physical project, which was conducted as a virtual event during the past two years.

තවත් ප්‍රබෝධමත් ව්‍යාපෘතියක් වන “Blind walk 2022” 2022 ඔක්තෝබර් 22 වන දින විහාරමදේවි උද්‍යානයේ එළිමහන් රංග පීඨයේදී පැවැත්විණි. අන්ධ ඇවිදීම යනු “ලෝක දෘෂ්ටි දිනය” සැමරීම සඳහා ලොව පුරා වාර්ෂිකව සංවිධානය කරනු ලබන උත්සවයකි. කොළඹ මිඩ්ටවුන් හි රොටරැක්ට් සමාජය සහ ඇචීවර්ස් ලංකා ව්‍යාපාරික පාසලේ රොටරැක්ට් සමාජය, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු ව්‍යාපාර හා තාක්ෂණ විද්‍යාලයේ රොටරැක්ට් සමාජය සහ කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ කළමනාකරණ හා මූල්‍ය පීඨයේ රොටරැක්ට් සමාජය එක්ව මෙම මුලපිරීම සිදු කරන ලදී. RACUOCFMF හි ප්‍රජා සේවා අංශය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතියේ අරමුණ වූයේ දෘෂ්‍යාබාධිතයින් මුහුණ දෙන ගැටළු පිළිබඳව ප්‍රජාව දැනුවත් කිරීම සහ පෙනීම නැමැති ත්‍යාගය බෙදා ගැනීමේ මාධ්‍යයක් ලෙස අක්ෂි දන්දීම ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමයි. වැසි සහිත කාලගුණික තත්ත්වයන් මධ්‍යයේ වුවද, පසුගිය දෙවසර තුළ මාර්ගගත ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස පැවැත්වූ පා ගමන භෞතික ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස පැවැත්වීමට මෙවර අපට අවස්ථාව හිමි විය.

மற்றொரு ஊக்கமளிக்கும் திட்டமான “Blind Walk 2022” அக்டோபர் 22, 2022 அன்று விகாரமாதேவி பூங்கா திறந்தவெளி அரங்கில் நடைபெற்றது. இந்த Blind walk ஆனது “உலக பார்வை தினத்தை” நினைவுகூரும் வகையில் உலகம் முழுவதும் ஆண்டுதோறும் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்படும் நிகழ்வாகும். இந்த முயற்சியை Rotaract Club of Colombo Midtown, Rotaract club of Achievers Lanka Business School, Rotaract club of Australian College of Business and Technology ஆகியவற்றுடன் இணைந்து எமது கழகம், இந்த முயற்சியை மேற்கொண்டது. RACUOCFMF இன் சமூக சேவை அவென்யூவால் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்ட இந்தத் திட்டத்தின் நோக்கமானது பார்வைக் குறைபாடுள்ளவர்கள் எதிர்கொள்ளும் பிரச்சனைகள் பற்றிய விழிப்புணர்வை உருவாக்குவதும், பார்வைப் பரிசைப் பகிர்வதற்கான வழிமுறையாக கண் தானத்தை ஊக்குவிப்பதும் ஆகும். மழையுடன் கூடிய காலநிலை நிலவிய போதிலும், கடந்த இரண்டு வருடங்களில் மெய்நிகர் நிகழ்வாக நடத்தப்பட்ட நடைப்பயணத்தை ஒரு நகழ்நிலைத் திட்டமாக நடத்துவதற்கான பாக்கியம் இந்த ஆண்டு எங்களுக்கு கிடைத்தது.

The participants were given blindfolds to cover their eyes before starting the walk. Blind Walk was a real eye-opener in which people were blindfolded and directed by a vision-impaired person along the path where both were in absolute darkness on the roadway. That whole experience, which provided at least a glimmer of insight into the world of visually impaired people and what they face on a daily basis, was unique and life-changing for everyone who has been blessed with sight.

The Rotaractors along with all the other participants commenced the walk at 3.00 pm with the presence of a few visually handicapped people who were at the front of the line with the guidance of two committee members from the club as well. The participants walked a distance of 1.5 km on the road around the Viharamadevi Park to create awareness for the people in this regard.

After the successful blind walk, the President of the Rotary Club of Colombo Midtown delivered his speech by expressing his thoughts about this initiative and the purpose of this worthy cause. Finally, to conclude the proceedings, the vote of thanks was delivered by Rtr. Vishvi, and she expressed her gratitude towards everyone who took the time to participate in this worthy cause despite the bad weather conditions and also to the officials who partnered with this event and to each and every one who helped us immensely for it to be successful.

Lastly, the stage was set to commence the carnival and the talent show to entertain the participants. Another important aspect of this event was the chance for all our participants to make an eye pledge to give someone the precious gift of sight. Those interested in donating their eyes could visit the special stall during the carnival to register themselves for the most honorable cause. The carnival that happened after the walk also had stalls, selling items that were built by the visually impaired, providing them the opportunity to show the world their potential and their desire to be independent and self-sufficient despite the different problems they face.

Blindness is by no means an easy condition to endure. Whether it be physical, mental, or social blindness, there is much to learn about blindness. Blind Walk was an opportunity to wake up a blind world with eyes to lend hands to those who are visually impaired but have great hopes and dreams in their lives. In making this project a success, the honor goes to all those kind hearts who actively competed, who worked hard, and who understood the great passions and devotions required to devote themselves to a noble cause, who, at best, know the triumph of the great success of such a cause.