GUWAHATI, Oct 14 - The Project Vision North East, in association with the youth wing of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), Young Indians Guwahati Chapter (Gift an organ vertical) and Rotary Club Guwahati along with a host of other social bodies organized the �World Blind Walk 2016� at Shradhanjali Kannan on Thursday.
The walk was flagged off by Member of Parliament Bijoya Chakravarty.
In the event, 20 to 30 visually-impaired children led 400 blindfolded adults on a one-kilometre walk starting from Shraddhanjali Kannan park.
It was a first-of-its-kind experience for the blindfolded people to experience the challenges faced by visually impaired people.
This event was simultaneously held in 55 cities across five countries on the same day. The occasion saw more than 150 people pledging to donate their eyes and each was given a certificate acknowledging the same.
�I don�t believe that only people with eyes can see. People can see through their hearts as well. People should pledge their eyes for the larger cause of helping millions of blind people see. I applaud the efforts of The Project Vision team,� Chakravarty said.
She also accepted the �Gift an Organ� certificate from Rahul Chandak, chairman, Gift an Organ vertical, Young Indians, after she pledged her eyes.
Rahul Chandak, while stressing the importance of organ donation, said that India faces a shortfall of around 1 lakh corneas annually � a small number actually considering the population of the country. But India collects only a meagre 35,000 corneas annually. �We hope more people will come forward to donate their eyes after this event,� he added.
The event was attended by Rev John Moolachira, Archbishop of Guwahati, as guest of honour.
Fr Joseph Mappilaparambil, chairman, Project Vision North East, in his address, referred to the shortage of cornea that India was facing and exhorted all to stand up to the cause of eye donation so that �we can ensure that every Indian is able to see.�
Many other organizations of the city and the north-eastern region also supported the event.
