About Blessing
Blessing Amuga was living at a homeless shelter when the STAGE discovered that she suffered from an eye condition which prevented her from being able to tolerate large amounts of light. This led her to to suffer from headaches, which hindered her everyday, especially at school. The STAGE listened to her story and decided to act.
Learn More at: https://wtop.com/maryland/2023/11/are-nonprofit-run-by-kids-is-helping-to-save-an-area-girls-eyesight/
The First Surgery
Members of the STAGE searched a lot to find a surgeon who would be able to do Blessing's eye surgery free of cost. They were able to find a surgeon: Dr. Vike Vicente in Maryland. He completed surgery on the first eye.
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Sowmya Ramesh, with the help of Aakash Kolluri coordinated with the Loudoun Shelter home and the doctors and raised the funds necessary for the surgery.
The Second Surgery
To fund for the second surgery, STAGE members went out and performed outside of stores and inside restaurants in order to spread awareness about Blessing. They collected donations from these shows and from their communities. They were able to raise the $3,000 needed for the second eye surgery.
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Sowmya Ramesh with the help of Rinay Kalluri, Aakash Kolluri, Nitya Manikonda, Tanya Palaparthi and Amogha Chetla and Sahasra Potluri organized pop-up shows and vendor tables at raise funds for the 2nd surgery.
