“Close your eyes and you will see my world” - is what the blind have to say to those who can see the beautiful world around them. While many of us turn a blind eye towards the sightless, here are some people who open up their hearts and are ready to make a difference.The initiative of the Gujarati/ Marwari community to donate their eyes, has turned a beacon of hope to the blind. A free eye-check up and eye-donation camp was held on Sunday, at the Gujarati school in the city. It was organised by the Vanitha Vibhag of the Gujarati Dasha Sorathia community, supported by Gujarati Mahajan in association with Vasan Eye Care, Kochi.“I have always wanted to do something beneficial for society and got an opportunity when I interacted with the doctors of Vasan Eye Clinic a few months ago,” says Lata Dholakia, who coordinated the event.A team of 12 members, including doctors from Vasan Eye Care, conducted a free check-up and counselled the people. Dr Jacob Mathew and Dr Anil Radhakrishnan gave a presentation, giving the audience all relevant information, ending it off with an interactive session.It was heartening to see that 82 members of the audience signed up for eye-donation on the spot.The procedure for eyedonation is not too complicated.It essentially means recovering the cornea, the transparent cover of the pupil.The eye must be removed within six hours of death, and the procedure takes around 10-15 minutes. It doesn’t disfigure the face of the deceased. Eye donation by a single person helps restore the sight of two corneal blind people.“We are starting with the Gujarati/Marwari community as we have easy access to them. We definitely do not intend to stop here .With the continued co-operation of the Vanita Vibhag and Vasan eye clinic we will be holding many more camps to spread awareness of the need for eye donation,” said Dholakia.It has turned out that there is a severe shortage of eye donors in India, even though celebrities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Om Puri, Sneha and Muttaiah Muralitharan have pledged their eyes. It is estimated that about four lakh people in the country await eye-donations.However, the actual cornea donations that are made each year amount to a mere forty-thousand.The blind require all the help we can give them. This movement has started off in a small way, but hopefully it will grow. There are a number of eye-banks across the city, like Vasan Eye Care, Narayana Netralayam, Abhayam, and many more who can be contacted. Join in and pledge your eyes today, see the world through the blind and live in their hearts.
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