Imagine living your life surrounded by darkness, without being able to truly appreciate those things that make life worth living. This is exactly what phased me as I walked through my native village of Bekinal, Talikoti Taluk, Vijaypura District, Karnataka, and was astonished by the number of poor villagers who were suffering from eye ailments from cataract, to macular degeneration, to glaucoma.

2 years ago, I did an internship at the Community Outreach Department of Sankara Eye Hospital in Bengaluru. Through this internship, I gained direct exposure and knowledge of the eye ailments faced by rural villagers. However, due to the location of this hospital, villagers were only brought from nearby villages in South Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

In a recent visit to my native village, I realized that many villagers suffered the same ailments. However, due to its location, these villagers were unable to attain viable treatment.

Therefore, armed with this experience, I was determined to make a difference. I decided to organize a series of free rural eye camps in the village, in co-ordination with the Anugraha Vision Foundation Trust a non-profit, non-commercial ophthalmic service organization with the first one being on the 19th of January 2019.

The minimum expenditure for one cataract surgery with IOL implantation is about Rs. 1,500 and your contribution will help restore vision for these blind/visually challenged underprivleged people. I am actively raising money to fund at least 100 poor villagers to get cataract surgery. Your generous donations will go a long way to help poor families from this rural, backward district.

Native: Bekinal, Talikoti Taluk, Vijaypura District, Karnataka

Date: 19/01/19

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