Darkness to Light is a Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga project that focuses on helping people with vision impairment. Darkness to Light is a project founded by Dr.Alok Sharma in 2005. Darkness to Light is a truly Riverina project which was conceived, developed and fully supported by Riverina community and Rotarians and friends of Rotary in Rotary District 9700.

Darkness to Light has 3 components:

• Darkness to Light India – It is a RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service) project and has been running since 2005 in District Yamunanagar Haryana in India and around with the help of Rotary club of Yamunanagar Riviera 3080.  

• Darkness to Light Riverina- This part commenced in 2010 and involves a service provided to the visually handicapped or to a service provider who provides a service to the visually handicapped within the Riverina.

• Darkness to Light East Timor –The services commenced in 2015 to the visually impaired people of East Timor through ETEP (East Timor Eye Project). We support ETEP financially and also help with training local eye surgeons and carrying out surgical operations in outreach areas.

The concept of an Eye Camp in India was a dream of Dr Alok Sharma, an Ophthalmologist and a member of the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga.

Having joined Rotary in September 2003, Alok put his dream into reality and set about to raise funds to undertake some 200 cataract operations somewhere in India near his home town north of Delhi.

Dr Alok Sharma has the seed sown by a sister in one of the temples he worshipped at in India. His parents (Late Mr. Ishwar Dayal Sharma and Mrs. Prem Lata Sharma), who themselves have been part of the project all the way, motivated him to convert this dream into reality.  

Dr. Alok Sharma was invited to join Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga in 2003 and soon he got working to start planning and living what he and his rotary mates always believe “Service Above Self. Though starting a project which had to be done was a mammoth task which required months of planning for fundraising, and then carrying out project in India about 10000 km away.

India

• Commenced in 2005

• A RAWCS (Rotary Australia World community project) Project

• In partnership with Rotary Club of Rotary club of  Yamunanagar Riviera

• All the donations are Tax deductable.

• 5 fundraiser and planning one later this year

Riverina

• Commenced in 2010

• Service to Riverina community especially visually handicapped and their families

• Chairs, lens cupboards, for Wagga Wagga Base Hospital

• Supported Vision Australia with computers to try softwares for visually disabled.

• Help Thara with Pearl software

• Weekend camps x 2, Barambola and in Sydney

• Visit to Canberra

• Visit to Dubbo zoo

• Supported Radio for visually handicapped 3 years

• Supported blind cricket.

East Timor

• Commenced in 2015

• Work through East Timor Eye project

• Our contributions called Darkness to Light.

• Aimed mainly to train local eye Surgeons and outreach projects.

• East Timor Eye Project

2005 - 4 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mr. Philip Cross

• Mrs. Meena Sharma

• Mst Varoon Sharma

2007 - 15 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mr. Philip Cross

• Mrs. Meena Sharma

• Mst. Varoon Sharma

• Mrs. Jenny Gorrell

• Mr. Graham Gorell

• Mrs. Merryl Cross

• Dr. Leone Harvey Smith

• Mr. William Blackwell

• Dr. Neil Pinto

• Mrs. Nola Pinto

• Mrs Marilyn Walter

• Mr. Ron Walter

2010 - 3 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mrs. Meena Sharma

• Mst. Varoon Sharma

2011 - 5 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Dr. Leone Harvey Smith

• Mr. William Blackwell

• Dr. Peter Crozier

• Mrs. Gail Crozier

2012 - 2 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mst. Varoon Sharma

2013 - 14 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mr. Philip Cross

• Mr. Bruce Barber

• Mrs. Ruth Barber

• Mr. Neil Fogarty

• Mrs. Barbara Fogarty

• Mrs. Sue Wegner

• Mrs. Marilyn Walter

• Mr. Ron Walter

• Ms. Mary Ann Kelly

• Mr. Daya Govender

• Mrs. Evelyn Barton

• Mrs. Margaret Perkins

• Mr. Garth Perkins

2015 - 4 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• President. Mary Ann Kelly

• PP. Paul Galloway

• Mrs. Judy Galloway

2016 - 1 Volunteer

• Dr. Alok Sharma

2017 - 4 Volunteers

• Dr. Alok Sharma

• Mrs. Meena Sharma

• Mst. Varoon Sharma

• Mst Vikaas Boleshetty

2018 - 2 Volunteer

• Dr. Bal Krishan

• Dr. Digby Allen

Philip Cross

“I was looking for someone in Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga who had much more experience with how Rotary works and with lots of worldly wisdom. I got the best person I could have ever imagined, Past President Mr. Philip Cross. He was working with Wagga Wagga City Council as a civil Engineer, highly regarded in profession who will not stop at anything till he gets everything perfect to finest of the details. Great at planning and documentation. Most importantly he was and is a walking encyclopaedia of Rotary not only in knowledge but also in action.  

Phil has been to India 3 times and is the heart and soul of the Darkness to Light Project. Darkness to Light would not have seen light of day without his tireless efforts and I will definitely be totally lost without him. Phil’s dedication to family, his profession and service though Rotary is exemplary. A pillar of our project. “ - Dr. Alok Sharma

Ajoy Joshi

“Another magical moment happened while I was ringing around Indian restaurants in Canberra, Albury, Melbourne and Sydneylooking for sponsors. I was advised by my close friends Elizabeth and Louis Carvalho to ring Ajoy Joshi owner of Nilgiri’s Restaurant in St Leonard who had had helped many local and international charitable causes. Ajoy and Meera were both originally senior chefs from India were trying to settle down in the very competitive food industry. As I got to know later, just a year before I rang them they were in such a bad economic situation that they almost closed the restaurant and were just staying afloat.  

My phone call was answered by Ajoy. I quickly went through my little planning speech, which I had done many times during that time….. “we are doing a fundraiser for eye care in Wagga, if you could give us food for $25 dollars, we could sell it for $ 50 and we could save $25 per person. Ajoy said “the food you are asking for sells for $60pp in my restaurant. I will give that food to you at no cost (not even cost of ingredients/travelling) but only on one condition…. that I will serve it myself”. I could not believe what I was hearing and asked him to repeat. In our now years-long association he has generously given free food for 1800 people for 4 fundraisers, 4-6 “chef’s table for 12” vouchers for auction, 100-150 cookbooks worth than $5000- all without even asking for original cost of books and plenty of smiles with no business interest about 450kms from where he lives. Meera and Ajoy were truly rewarded for his “karma” as Nilgiri’s was judged  Best Indian Restaurant in Sydney for 7 years. Business boomed, Ajoy became a celebrity chef (food safari), and most importantly their beautiful son Aniruddha got selected into medicine. Now they own two very successful authentic Indian Restaurants in Cremorne, Sydney — Nilgiri’s and Tellicherry. Good begets Good. What a wonderful story. Isn’t it? Another pillar of our project.

Both Ajoy and Meera were later awarded Paul Harris Fellowship (highest award at Rotary Club level given to a Rotarian or Non-Rotarian for extraordinary service or contribution) by our Club for his extraordinary contribution.” - Dr. Alok Sharma

Poonam Swamy

“Entertainment is an important part of a fundraiser. We did not have funds to hire a professional performer. We requested our friends Chandra and Rohini Swamy in Tumut to ask their daughter Poonam Swamy, an 11-year-old at the time (who was winning every possible dancing competition in Riverina) to perform for the fundraiser. Poonam very happily agreed to dance and started practising. Just a few weeks from the fundraiser we came to know that Poonam’s grandmother, who she was very attached to was diagnosed with terminal cancer and did not have long to live. We approached Poonam and gave her option of not dancing if she did not feel up to it. To my surprise Poonam said to me, “Uncle, though I am sad I will still dance as it will help you fix the eyes of people who will not be able to see otherwise”. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

 Again good “Karma”. Poonam became school captain in Tumut, excelled in school in Brisbane and now has her own dance academy and is a successful Psychologist. She is still full of life and brings sunshine to lives of her family and many others around her. “ - Dr. Alok Sharma

Rajiv Bhatia

“Lets talk about another pillar of Darkness to Light project, Mr. Rajiv Bhatia. I started ringing Rotary Clubs in Yamunanagar and Jagadhari region of state of Haryana India looking for a local Club to help us with our project. I rang Rotary Club of Yamunanagar Riviera in Rotary District 3080 and my call was answered by Charter President of the club Past Assistant Governor Rtn. Rajiv Bhatia. It took less than 5 minutes before he said, “When would you like us to start, you organise the funds and we will look after local organisation and jump bureaucratic hurdles”. Rtn. Rajiv Bhatia, a bank manager by profession, has service in his blood, is an incorrigible optimist, great leader & organiser and the word “impossible” does not exist in his dictionary. Rain, hail or shine nothing can stop him from finishing a job, and he always has a gentle, pleasant smile on his face which depicts confidence, sense of achievement, joys of service and kindness.  Since then, seven eye surgery camps have taken place. Each and every member of the Rotary Club of Yamunanagar welcomes volunteers from Australia with open arms. Their dedication to the project, their warm welcome and their hospitality cannot be expressed in words. Apart from the Darkness to Light project they are involved with several other community projects which are truly remarkable.” - Dr. Alok Sharma

https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubRiviera/

Mohan Eye Institute
-Dr. Hari Mohan and Dr. Rajiv Mohan

“I am very fortunate to have been trained in ophthalmology in India and in Australia by some of the most respected teachers, Dr. Hari Mohan and Dr. Frank Martin respectively. Dr. Hari Mohan, Padma shri, Padma Vibhushan (equivalent to more than Order of Australia), was renowned in his field in India for more than 40 years. His patients included Presidents, his highness Dalai Lama, late prime minister of India Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and many other national and international VIPs. I was one hundreds of his students who he could easily forget, but we had relationship of love and respect so it lasted till he passed away in 2012.

Dr. Hari Mohan owned a very progressive and modern Eye Hospital called Mohan Eye Institute in New Delhi, where I was trained. He gave me the unconditional support of his staff, mobile surgical unit, sterilizing facilities, junior doctors and nurses for the Eye Project.

Dr. Rajiv Mohan his elder son, a very eminent ophthalmologist in his own right agreed to lead the team. Dr. Rajiv Mohan’s professionalism, and excellence in fast and efficient cataract surgery deserve praise and appreciation. He also used his influence in contacting local medical and instrument companies to loan us operating microscopes and machines and give us medical supplies at cheaper rates. We could not have done anything without him. Yamunanagar is 150 km north of New Delhi so the team and instruments had to be mobilised to the location. Inspection of the clinic site a few weeks before eye camp, sourcing relevant medication and intraocular lenses involved many hours of planning and effort. What an immense contribution! We organised for mobilising the team, food, lodging of staff and giving them comfortable working environment otherwise all contributions were on a voluntary basis only. As a way of saying thanks to Mohan Eye Institute, we donated few small things like power point projector, and ophthalmology books for education of post graduate students. I also contributed to the teaching of training eye surgeons. Dr. Rajiv Mohan was another pillar of the project, who was later awarded Paul Harris Fellowship by our club for his extraordinary contribution.

“Karma” : Mohan Eye Institute is one of the leading private Eye institutes in New Delhi with several branches all over National Capital Region (NCR). Both Dr. Rajiv Mohan and Dr. Sanjeev Mohan are highly regarded as great surgeons and teachers.” - Dr. Alok Sharma

Ramesh Hooda

“I first met Mr. Hooda, a refractionist, at the Medical College Rohtak where I did my initial ophthalmology training. He taught me how to prescribe glasses and he has done so for hundreds of eye surgeons who have trained there in last 35 years. He is extremely hard working, reliable, professional, kind, friendly and helpful. He was so proficient and efficient in prescribing glasses that he could easily screen 250-300 people for glasses in a single day. While at work nothing deterred him, and he could keep on working without stopping in a crowded sweaty, dark examination room for hours at a stretch. He has not only helped us but also several other non profit organisation to provide free glasses to the poor and needy. We could not have done without him.

“Karma”, learning from his hard work and dedication to service, his two daughters have been accepted into Medicine since we started the project and are doing extremely well.“ - Dr. Alok Sharma

PDG Bruce Barber and Rtn Ruth Barber

“Darkness to Light Riverina was started in 2010, which could have not been possible without the help of Ruth and Bruce Barber. Both of them not only have contributed immensely to Darkness to Light in fundraising, and volunteering to go to India but also have taken a lead role in organising the Darkness to Light project — especially visits to Canberra, Dubbo and Echuca. Their dedication and enthusiasm is infectious. The are very important pillars of the Darkness to Light project.” - Dr. Alok Sharma