THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vishnu R S, a teacher in his mid-twenties, had never thought how the visually challenged lived, let alone about donating his eyes. But after he was blindfolded by volunteers of AIM (All in a Mission) and assisted him to walk along the road inside the Napier Museum premises with only a white cane to trace the path, Vishnu had second thoughts. Without any compulsion, he agreed to donate his eyes. Not only that, he also forced one of his friends to sign the consent letter to donate his too. All this happened in the eye donation awareness campaign conducted by AIM and Chakshumathi, another NGO engaged in educating the blind to use sophisticated devices, on the Museum premises on Sunday.According to Dilbar J S, secretary of AIM, the motive behind conducting the programme was to interact with the public and to create awareness among them about the significance of eye donation. “We want to create proper awareness about eye donation. They don’t even know what eye donation means. So, we will first inform on how donation can be made. Then, for those who are interested in finding how it would be to live without eyes, we blindfold them and make them walk through the road using a walking stick,” he said. The initial response of the people who were being told about eye donation was lukewarm. But after they were made to walk blindfold, the approach changed and most of them agreed to donate their eyes. On Saturday alone, the organisers received more than 50 registrations for donation.The awareness campaign conducted by AIM revealed some interesting facts. According to its members, youth are more inclined towards social activism than their elder counterparts. “They are more than ready to take part in constructive activities. But they need to be carried along with the activities. Even young girls, who otherwise would have turned their back at us, have registered their names,” Dilbar said. The event was organised in connection with the first anniversary of the formation AIM.
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