BLIND WALK 2021

Our little efforts make a huge impact brightening up their world!

We are blind to our blindness. How can we condemn those who are truly blinded?

Sight is a blessing. However, not everyone is lucky enough to be born with it. The struggle for sight is immense. In our country alone, there are close to a million Sri Lankans who don’t have or have lost their sight.

“BLIND WALK” is one such award-winning initiative that focuses on alleviating the plight of the visually impaired by taking steps to make their lives better. In the year 2021, the project was set out under the theme of ‘Envisioned for Vision’ which was initially planned to be implemented on the 30^th of August 2021 with the main organizer being the Rotary Club of Colombo Midtown along with the Rotaract Club of Colombo Midtown, Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School, Rotaract Club of Australian College of Business and Technology and Rotaract club of University of Colombo Faculty of Management and Finance.

Unfortunately, due to the disturbances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the walk was replaced by Blind Challenge, A guest session, and an Open Mic Night. All the events were conducted through the virtual platforms which were featured as the second online fund and eye pledges donation campaign. The guest session was conducted by adhering to all the health and safety guidelines provided by the Health Ministry and was streamed live on YouTube via the ROTARACT TV channel.

The blind walk team has taken the Blind challenge with the objective of creating awareness about the open mic event and influencing people emotionally by encouraging them to take a step in the shoes of a blind person. The main condition was to be blindfolded and take part in the challenge of performing any activity. Members in all the Rotaract clubs took part in the Blind Challenge coming up with plenty of absolute creative ideas. Finally, to sustain the objective this creative content was shared through the official blind walk social media platforms.

The Guest session was held on the 6^th of October, moderated by Rtr. Saif, from the Rotaract Club of Colombo Mid Town and was accompanied by our skillful guest speaker, Dr. Vasuki Gurusamy, a consultant Eye Surgeon from The Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.

Dr. Vasuki Gurusamy elucidated the facts about the biological and non-biological causes of blindness. Further clarified that vision loss may occur due to many causes such as accidents or injuries to the surface of the eye, Diabetes, Glaucoma, and Macular Degeneration. She came up with a brief classification for partial vision loss and the other causes of vision loss namely Blocked blood vessels, Complications of premature birth, Complications of eye surgery, Lazy eye, Optic neuritis, and Stroke, etc.

The Open Mic event was held on the same day, parallel to the guest session. It was illuminated by admired five guest artists namely Tiney & Nawanjana, Ashka Kulathunga, Channuka Devnindu, Kavindi Gunawardena, and our very own Rotaractors, Rtr. Vathsan Sharma, Rtr. Kalani Athukorala and Rtr. Dinul Fernando. The Open Mic night came to an end, inviting each and everyone to donate funds and eye pledges for this precious cause of helping out the visually impaired people.

Winding up the soothing night Rtr. Ovin Bimsara, the Secretary of Rotaract Club of Colombo Mid Town delivered the vote of thanks planting the hope of having a walk in the year 2021.

Finally, Thanks a bunch, to every single one of you who generously contributed to this noble cause, and cheers to the efforts of our fellow mates behind this immensely successful project. It’s true that we have reached a milestone, yet the journey is not finished. 

Let’s all join the next walk, to feel their plight and to bring a ray of sunshine to their lives!