Media awareness and public engagement !!!

The students of SOIL- School of Inspired Leadership conducted the third and the last Blind walk event at Leisure valley, sector 29, Gurgaon. This time again apart from 10 SOIL students, public were also made to participate and experience it. This activity not only creates awareness, empathy but also made them sensitize the challenge towards the special skills, needs of the blind and whether public places are inclusive for them. The aim was to make public places accessible to all and to observe people’s reaction to the presence of visually impaired. It was completely different experience for all. The whole activity was covered by media, journalists from Times of India, Hindustan Times, Friday Gurgaon, ETV and 2 other magazines making us reach more people creating wider impact.

Some photos takes during Blind Walk.

Experince shared by some people:

Renuka:

She found it a really different experience altogether.It is tough to live life without vision.

Public participants:

The experiment provided an opportunity to experience what blindness is and how they overcome obstacles at every step. It is really difficult to walk and society should come forward to make public places safe for visually impaired people.

Himanshu Thapliyal:

It is difficult for a visually impaired person to walk in this park as the facilities are not available

.

Vishal Rathi:

A completely new experience for him. He found it very difficult to walk a small stretch. He have never imagined, how life would be without vision and would be so challenging.

Arun Kumar:

This was a great opportunity to understand the challenging things that we don’t realize and sensitize their feelings. He was happy to experience such a unique activity.

Media coverage and participants sharing their experiences.

 The article in Hindustan Times: 

The article in theTimes of India:

A World within a world !!!

Harminder Soni

Before blind walk Harminder Sir was quite curious and excited about experiencing something new which he hasn’t heard of so far. He closed his eyes took a cane and walked in the crowded lane of Galleria. What he experienced after which was something he did not expect before the walk. After completing the walk he sat down in a chair, said every individual should try this out to understand the challenges and appreciate whatever we have got, as most of us still grumble for things we don’t get. He wanted his staffs in his office to also experience it and made them participated in the walk!!!

Alka Dixit

Her respect for people without vision had just doubled. She felt their spirit of not giving up and enduring the challenges they have to face every day, keep fighting against the odds and perform better than what we do is something that should be respected and encouraged. She was happy to experience such a unique activity!

 Surbhi Chauhan

One of our most enthusiastic participants was excited from the beginning to participate in the walk. She apart from participating in the walk wanted her friends to experience the same and called them up too. She said she was able to observe more with her eyes closed. She was more focused than she usually is.

           

Nanda Kumar

Nanda had never experienced something like this before. He had few things that struck him. I found it super difficult to walk a small stretch. I have never though, how life would be without vision. I have never imagined it before. This was a great opportunity to understand things we don’t realize. I would make my friends and family experience the same.

Ankit Anish

I have seen and worked with people without vision. I have always found them inspiring. The way they plan and execute their work and the amount of effort they put in is absolutely amazing that each one of us should learn. The blind walk just made me wonder why do we complain when we have everything. And why they never complain even when they have many challenges

Cauvery Jalan

She found it very difficult to even keep a single step. She knew she was slow and had a long distance to cover but her fear of falling was holding her behind. It made her understand how difficult life becomes when one can’t see. She felt it was wonderful experiencing something that was completely new and created a lasting import.

 Some photos taken during the event:

Blind Walk-A Life time experience!!

Esha is part of the Social Innovation Program (SIP) of the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), were the business school partners up with 25 NGOs. The students from SOIL work with an NGO throughout the year identify the critical projects and needs of the NGO and contribute towards fostering its growth. Every year four students from SOIL team up with Esha. This year it was our turn to join hands with Esha and our first task was to conduct a blind walk. We were asked to choose a small stretch in a public place for doing the blind walk.

The experience we had after conducting the walk was incredible. The moment we closed our eyes and started walking towards the target area, which we felt was very close by and easily reachable we were proven wrong. After a few steps we felt it really challenging. We were just guided by our ears.

The place sounded pretty crowded, every step was taken with so much effort not to hit anyone around. The fear that we might fall anytime made it even more difficult. It took us 15 minutes each to cover the stretch which would normally take a minute or two to cover. There was one among us who found it quite easy, as he recently had an eye surgery and had already experienced walking without the support of vision.

The activity also caught the attention of the mixed crowd at Galleria, they were pretty curious as to what was going around. It created a lasting impact in us which would drive us further!!