Blind walk was an initiative by the Rotary Club of Colombo Mid Town together with the Rotaract Clubs of Colombo Mid Town, Rotaract Clubs of ACBT, Rotaract Clubs of Achievers Lanka Business School and Rotaract Clubs of University of Colombo Faculty of Management, that took place on the 12th of October 2019. The walk was focused on the theme “A Child – A Future”. The walk was organised to create awareness on blindness and to collect funds to sponsor spectacles for children to make the world a more colorful place for them – a vision for a better future. The walk started from Royal college skills center and also ended at the same location after a walk of an hour.
The walk began at 3 p.m. with the waving of the flag by the Rotaract 3220 District Governor 2019/2020 Rtn. Sebastian Karunakaran, with more than 200 participants wearing the blindfold and led by Rotaractors being in the lead. The 200 participants were divided into groups of 15 in a single line as the walk was going against the traffic and safety of the participants was the main priority. Banners were being carried with the message being clear for the public to view. The sun was quite warm on that day, but the crowd was supportive and the walk began.
There were news crews and reporters questioning the Rotaractors while the walk was in session. The walk attracted the traffic, where people in vehicles stopped to read the boards and even asked a few questions as to what the walk was all about. Halfway during the walk the participant required water and few Rotaractors rushed to get water. Driving with the traffic it was easier to distribute the water as the walk was against the traffic and keeping the plastic bottles in mind everyone made sure that the trash was collected and as to not litter the road. The walk took almost an hour to complete at 4 p.m.
The participants were issued certificates as the part of the program, certifying that they took part in the Blind Walk 2019. Tickets were available to purchase even after the walk to sponsor the spectacles priced at Rs.700/=. After the certificates were distributed the participants were offered food and drink and then entertained at an open mic session. The open mic session attracted a lot of the crowd as people wanted to relax after a tiring walk. The entertainment was a success with Sri Lanka’s famous beat boxing band “Blaze” show cased their talent and the crowd was stupefied. The encore for one more was repeated many times. Finally, the crowd wanted the Papare to be played followed by a mix of Indian and Sri Lankan songs. This got the crowd on their feet and right to the front dancing and swaying along with the beat.
All in all, it was a successful event pulled off by the Rotary Club of Colombo Mid Town together with the Rotaract Clubs of Colombo Mid Town, Rotaract Clubs of ACBT, Rotaract Clubs of Achievers Lanka Business School and Rotaract Clubs of University of Colombo Faculty of Management. Hats off to the team that pulled this great event off for a better future of a Child.
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By Rtr. Abdul Kaliq | Email: abdlkhlq@hotmail.com
