ORBIS - Bupa Moonwalkers

As the only local night-walking fund-raising event in Hong Kong, Moonwalkers was held on the 3 December with 11,000 people setting out from Wanchai Sports Ground at midnight for a 20-km night walk, reaching Repulse Bay at dawn. The walk is symbolic of the positive outcomes that are achieved through the effort of fundraisers like Moonwalkers; helping the needlessly blind emerge from the dark into the light. In its sixth year, Moonwalkers recorded a new high in participant numbers, as well as raising a staggering HK$8.2 million for ORBIS' sight saving initiative. This charity walk in the dark will enable 39 million sightless people in the world to regain the ability to see. 

A highlight of this late night event was a "light painting" zone, where professional photographers volunteered to capture the memorable moments of the participants and vanquish the darkness. Over ten thousand participants also gathered to create a cheerful light-painting photo at the opening ceremony, sending warmth and happiness to the blind afar with the lights in their hands.

Another highlight of Moonwalkers was the "Blindfold Challenge" held during the Central Pier section of the walk, in which participants were blindfolded for 10-minutes under the aid of volunteers. One Moonwalker, Mr. Ching said, “I thought it would be easy for just 10 minutes, and we had the aid of the volunteers. But when I was blindfolded, 10 minutes was much longer than I thought, and the walk seemed endless. I really felt the distress that the blind face every minute, every second." 

Development Director of ORBIS Hong Kong, Ms. Mary Lau said: "It is the sixth year of Moonwalkers. All of us at ORBIS are very excited to see how the event has grown from a participation of 3,000 people at the beginning, to a city-wide event now. Thanks to the support of the public, ORBIS has been able to help developing countries to train eye professionals, develop suitable medical planning, purchase surgery equipment and so on. All of these in turn have let us bring hope of regaining eyesight to more patients suffering from eye diseases. We would also like to give a big thank you to the main sponsor of the event, Bupa (Asia) Limited. During the past six years, Bupa has given us unrelenting support for Moonwalkers. We are also very grateful for the support of other sponsors and our 300-plus volunteers. Without their help, Moonwalkers could not have been held. We thank you for your contributions to sight saving."