When the Pakistani pre-med student, Nawaal, was studying for a test, an ad suddenly popped up before one of her lectures that she was watching on YouTube. The ad was for Be My Eyes. Nawaal was captivated by the ad and watched it all the way through. She immediately went to download Be My Eyes before continuing to study.
One morning, as Nawaal was getting ready for an event, she received her first Be My Eyes call; an experience she vividly remembers. Nawaal was connected to a woman, who had dropped a coin and needed assistance finding it on the floor. Together, they scanned the floor for a couple of minutes, until Nawaal was able to locate the coin that had rolled half-way under a cupboard. Nawaal instructed the woman to bend down, put her hand out and directed her hand to the coin. “After I ended the call, I took a moment to myself, and I sort of had these tears of joy in my eyes, because I think it was so rewarding”, Nawaal explains.
It almost feels like I got so many friends all around the world, and I absolutely love it, it really is the best part of my day.
As a busy student who also enjoys playing the violin, swimming, and anime and manga, Be My Eyes is a perfect volunteer opportunity, and she encourages everyone with a hectic life to just make that little bit of a difference. “I think everyone should be signing up for this, because it’s so easy and so effective. You don’t really have to work very hard, you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it. It’s just like helping a friend with something really small, and it’s so rewarding”, Nawaal says.
It surprises me, because people sometimes criticise scientific advancements, and they talk about everything that’s bad about the internet or everything that is bad about technology, but I think this is just proof that technology can be used in the best way possible.
Nawaal believes that people generally can be very critical about scientific advancements and the development of technology, but that inventions like Be My Eyes show how it can make the world a better place. Be My Eyes is an opportunity for people to think less about themselves and instead focus on helping other people - and it’s Nawaal’s opinion that you get more joy out of doing something for other people than anything you can do for yourself. For Nawaal, getting to help through Be My Eyes is always a positive experience, and she’s happy for the opportunity to just make a little bit of difference for other people.
