A special post by Dr. Karen Moosbrugger, Seva Canada Board Member
Random Acts of Seva Week 41
The morning of May 28th dawned slightly dreary with a cool mist hanging in the air, but for the golfers partaking in the First Annual Cordova Bay Seva Golf Tournament, spirits were bright and sunny.
In an unfortunate twist of timing, the city of Victoria was rendered all but road blocked for its Bicycle Road Race. Undaunted, the Seva supporters pressed on, navigating the detours and ultimately arriving just in time for the tournament’s start time. Cordova Bay Golf Course was suddenly filled with laughter and the spirit of Seva Canada. Old friends teased and poked fun at recent golf scores and new friendships were forged as individuals sought out the members of what would be their foursome for the day. People who knew of Seva’s exceptional work overseas were clearly proud to be involved in the fundraiser while newcomers to Seva suddenly realized that they had decided to become part of something very special.
The sun warmed the fairways and the rain jackets were stowed away as the groups set off for what promised to be a fabulous day of golf on the immaculately maintained course.
As a fun, but effective reminder of the plight of the people Seva Canada works so hard to serve, golfers were asked to partake in a surprise activity on the first par 3. One member of each group was to wear a pair of “blind goggles” for the entire hole, from start to finish. These goggles were configured to simulate the profoundly decreased vision experienced by millions of people with advanced cataracts in the countries Seva works in. The other members of the group were responsible for ensuring the safety of the “blind” member and helping them navigate the entire hole. This was no easy task as people soon discovered, and it served to demonstrate how challenging it is to be responsible for a severely visually impaired individual.
Karen puts special goggles on a golfer to similuate blindness.
The scores were tallied while the staff at Cordova Bay served a delicious buffet meal and the golfers rehydrated. The prize to golfer ratio was 1 to 1 and so nobody was empty-handed at the conclusion of the awards.
Of course the goal of the tournament had nothing to do with low scores or closest to the pin. It had everything to do with raising funds for Seva Canada to help create locally sustainable sight-restoring programs in their partner’s countries.
A golfer wearing special goggles to simulate blindness is guided around one hole by Karen
As this was the first of what will hopefully become an ever-growing annual event in Victoria, another goal was to simply spread the word of Seva. The golfers parted with sincere promises to return the following year with more of their friends and to continue supporting this incredibly worthwhile cause.
Message from Seva Canada: Our deepest thanks to Gerry Pomeroy, Karen’s dad, who organized this special event and to all those who took part.
