Senior citizens of Chicago meet to highlight blindness in India

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Hundreds of seniors and youth attended the Bhartiya Senior Citizens of Chicago (BSC) meeting at the Rana Regan Center in Carol Stream IL., recently, to highlight the issue of blindness in India, and to empower Indian-American youth.

India’s Deputy Consul General, O. P. Meena was the chief guest at the program. Dr. Manu Vora, president of Blind foundation for India, and a member of the Fullbright Specialist roster of the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was the main speaker.

Organizers said in a press release that around 500 people attended the event.

Vora highlighted the plight of the more than 15 million blind people in India (1 in 3 blind people in the world), and shared how this blight could be prevented with simple measures such as $1 of Vitamin A drops administered from age 4-6. Furthermore, in India, it costs only $20 per cataract operation, compared to $4,000 in the U.S.

Donations of $20,000 were collected at the event, organizers said in a press release, to go toward the purchase of a medical mobile van in India.

Vora also spoke on how to get admission into Ivy League high education institutions in the U.S. urging students to enroll for the “most difficult courses available, securing high grades in high school, scoring well in the SAT tests, formulating customized letters of recommendation, writing essays that were authentic, and doing community service within and outside school. Vora also gave tips on how to do well in university.