To attract attention for the blind, members of Vision Care Global Youth (VCGY) participated in a parade near Seohyeon subway station on January 22th. They walked with signs addressing the issues of blindness and collected donation.
VCGY, founded in 2010 by Soo Yeon Kim and her friends from Korean International School, is a joint organization of twelve schools in Korea, dedicated to getting rid of avoidable blindness that can be prevented by simple optical operations.
Even though many students were physically fatigued from the campaign, their faces were filled with joy. Members not only collected hundred dollars of donation but also led the public to reconsider the seriousness of the problem. They informed the public that 4500 millions of people are losing their sight because of common diseases such as cataract or glaucoma. VCGY also informed that ninety percent of these people could have been cured by proper treatment and operation but their economic status hindered them.
Jaehun Lee (15), the member of VCGY, said “First I was not sure people will be interested in something like VCGY because issue of blindness can seem irrelevant to many people. But it turned out that many people are willing to support optical operations.” He also mentioned that students are willing to help diverse social issues if there are any opportunities, and promised that VCGY will establish more programs to encourage students’ participation.
Jungsup Kim, an eighth grader to participate in the campaign for the first time, said, “I am happy that I was able to help. Today’s experience taught me that teenagers can be a great help. I hope we often have campaigns.”
VCGY does many other things beside the campaign to help the blinds. The members of VCGY donate about 13 dollars each month to support optical operations in various countries. The members are also responsible for collecting old glasses for patients and advertising Vision care service to the public. Other attempts to collect donation are annual concert and a charity bazaar.
At first, VCGY’s ability was greatly undermined because the members were students; however, it turned out that students’ large number can be very helpful. Their donation and collection of glasses were far more than expected.
VCGY’s ultimate goal is to achieve vision 2020 that was established by WHO and The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in 1999. ‘Vision 2020’ is a global movement to get rid of avoidable blindness by 2020. Since 1999, various civil groups including NGO and Vision Care Service (VCS) have helped Vision 2020 especially people in developing countries, yet more effort is needed to cure more people.
Like VCGY, more students in Korea started to help vision 2020. VCGY’s help has taken Vision 2020 one step closer to its success.
