‘Bond With an Elder’ Campaign Kick-starts in Mangaluru

‘Bond With an Elder’ Campaign Kick-starts in Mangaluru

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, October 4, 2015: Drawing inspiration from the ‘selfie with daughter’ campaign, activists are spearheading a ‘Bonding with an Elder’ campaign in and around Mangaluru. They launched the ‘Grand Selfie’ campaign amid fanfare at the City Centre Mall on Saturday.

 

Post-graduate students from St Aloysius College performed street plays and ‘flash mob performances to introduce the ‘Bonding with an Elder’ campaign to Mangalureans at the mall. The activities encouraged youths in particular to engage with one elderly member in their family or in the locality on a regular basis.“The gesture could be anything from a regular ‘hello’ to playing a board game, replacing a fused bulb for them or picking up medicines or groceries, accompanying them to the bank or their regular medical check-ups,” said activist Vidya Dinker, the  brain behind the campaign.

The campaign is a beginning of better days for elderly citizens, said nonagenarian Olinda Pereira of Vishwas Trust. “I have faced questions on whether the campaign can be sustained. We cannot start anything if we remain pessimistic,” she said and added that the campaign will instil confidence in elderly people.

Rotary Club of Mangaluru president Yatish Baikampady said it was a designing campaign by students from St Aloysius College that first suggested the ‘Grand Selfie’ -- an online photography contest. Participants need to send selfies with their grandparents or other elderly people in the neighbourhood.

The ‘Grand Selfie’ with maximum likes on Facebook and ‘best Grand selfies’ will be awarded prizes, he added. Vidya Dinker said that as part of the campaign, they will also create awareness about senior citizens’ rights. “Eventually, we want to create support groups for elderly people in every ward,” she added.

 

Courtesy: The New Indian Express