While the schoolchildren put in the effort, the NGO contributed the infrastructure and the money. Students involved in the programme were trained to detect cataract and then sent out into the field, armed with a torch to carry out their task. Of course, professional medical help was at hand. The children also brought the patients from their homes in the JJ slums to the venue.

This mission, they said, helped them cultivate a bond between their generation and that of their patients. Before the surgery, 85-year-old Shish Kaur said, "The children and the doctors diagnosed me as having cataract in both my eyes, but I was reluctant to go for corrective surgery because of fear and the expenses involved. But HelpAge India and the doctors told me that it was free and that I would be able to see perfectly after my operation. So I agreed to undergo the operation. Now I am feeling very happy that finally I will be able to see my grandchildren's faces." The patients do not need to wear glasses after surgery.

Dr Stephen Roy, CEO of Dr Shroff's eye hospital, said there was a tremendous backlog of curable blindness around Delhi. "The purpose of the camp is to identify cataract patients and provide surgery for people who cannot afford it," he said. He thought working with HelpAge India was a very important partnership which produces a synergy and enables us to do more than we could individually," he added.

HelpAge gave the eye hospital around Rs 6 lakh for the corrective intra-ocular lens implant. The funding organisation provides money for projects for the elderly all over India, which include ophthalmic care, mobile medicare units, income generation schemes, support to old age homes and day care centres through project partners.

HelpAge India also launched its first pay-and-stay old age home `Gaudhuli' earlier this month,.

Delhi has about 10 lakh senior citizens, of which, more than 1.5 lakh are living alone. A pay and stay home takes care of these old people by providing a safe and secure atmosphere. Gaudhuli is equipped with a medical centre equipped with two infirmaries and a dispensary. The centre will also cater to the poor and destitute living in the slums surrounding the old age home. Speaking about the project, deputy director-general, Helpage India, S S Mongia said, "This home has been planned and built in response to the growing need for shelter and care for the middle class urban population. The home has facilities to provide care, entertainment and companionship to the residents. We would like to make Godhuli a reference point for geriatrics students and a model for other old age homes."