As dawn broke over the Bay of Bengal on the morning of February 22, 2026, hundreds of volunteers gathered along the iconic RK Beach Road in Visakhapatnam. The city was only beginning to awaken, but the shoreline was already alive with activity. Lions from India stood shoulder to shoulder with fellow Lions who had travelled thousands of miles from across the globe, many still adjusting to a new time zone and discovering the rhythms of a city they had never visited.
Blue gloves were pulled on. Garbage bags were distributed. Teams spread out along the coastline. Within minutes, the beach became a workplace for service.
That spirit of collaboration, fellowship, and hands-on action would define the entire week.
From February 21 to 28, 2026, MD 316 proudly hosted the fourth edition of Lions International Global Service Week (GSW), transforming Visakhapatnam into a global center of humanitarian service. For eight remarkable days, Lions from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds worked side by side on projects that improved lives, strengthened communities, and demonstrated the power of service without borders.
The event brought together Lion leaders, volunteers, healthcare professionals, educators, government officials, community organizations, and residents in a unique celebration of the Lions motto — We Serve.
Most importantly, it brought together people united by a common purpose: making the world a better place.
A Global Gathering in India's City of Destiny
Visakhapatnam, affectionately known as Vizag and often called the ‘City of Destiny,’ provided an inspiring setting for the fourth Global Service Week.
Nestled between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, Vizag is home to one of India’s largest ports, the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command, a thriving industrial ecosystem, and some of the country’s most beautiful coastline.
For one week, however, the city became something more. It became a living classroom of service.
A total of 42 international Lions representing eight nations—India, the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Kenya—joined hundreds of Lions from MD 316 and across India.
The event was honoured by the participation of International First Vice President Mark S. Lyon and Lion Lyn Lyon, who travelled from Connecticut, USA, and International Second Vice President Dr. Manoj Shah and Lion Jayna Shah, who travelled from Nairobi, Kenya.
Their presence reinforced the growing importance of Global Service Week within the Lions International family and highlighted India’s leadership role in advancing impactful humanitarian service on the world stage.
By the end of the week, thousands of lives had been touched through projects focused on vision, health, environment, youth empowerment, dignity, education, nutrition, and community development.
Global Service Week: A Growing Movement
What began as an innovative idea has rapidly evolved into one of Lions International’s most inspiring service initiatives.
Quick Facts
- Launched in 2023
- First Edition – Nairobi, Kenya
- Second Edition – Kolkata, India
- Third Edition – Morocco
- Fourth Edition – Visakhapatnam, India
- Designed to unite Lions from around the world in a week of hands-on humanitarian service
- Promotes cultural exchange, international fellowship, and collaborative community impact
Global Service Week represents a simple but powerful concept: bringing Lions together not for meetings, speeches, or ceremonies alone, but for meaningful service projects that create measurable and lasting change.
Visakhapatnam exemplified this vision on an extraordinary scale.
Service in Partnership: Protecting the Coastline
The first full day of Global Service Week began with a large-scale environmental initiative along the city’s coastline.
Working in partnership with the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) under the Swachh Survekshan campaign, Lions joined local volunteers to conduct beach cleanups stretching from YMCA Beach to Tenneti Park.
Participants were divided into teams and assigned multiple locations along the coast. By the end of the morning, more than twenty large bags of waste had been removed from public spaces.
The project also introduced international participants to one of Visakhapatnam’s most inspiring citizen-led initiatives—Vizag Volunteers, a group that has gathered every Sunday morning for more than 650 consecutive weeks to clean the city’s beaches.
For many visiting Lions, this was their first experience working alongside community volunteers whose commitment predates Global Service Week and will continue long after it concludes.
The initiative was further strengthened by the participation of Dr. Shanka Brata Bagchi, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam City, demonstrating the close collaboration between Lions and local civic leadership.
By the time the cleanup concluded, distinctions between host and visitor had disappeared. There were simply people working together for a cleaner and healthier community.
KidSight: Seeing a Brighter Future
If one project symbolized the scale and impact of Global Service Week, it was undoubtedly the Lions KidSight Initiative.
Vision remains one of Lions International’s signature causes, and throughout the week teams conducted extensive school-based screenings across Visakhapatnam and surrounding communities including Chandrampalem, Kurmannapalem, Kanithi, Gajuwaka, Thotagaruvu, and Sriram Nagar.
By the end of the week, an extraordinary 12,600 children had undergone vision screening.
Classrooms became temporary eye-screening centres. Teachers coordinated student movement. Healthcare professionals worked alongside Lions volunteers. Portable screening technology enabled large numbers of children to be assessed efficiently and accurately.
At Zilla Parishad High School, Chandrampalem, approximately 3,500 children were screened in a single day.
International First Vice President Mark Lyon and Lion Lyn Lyon personally participated in screenings, interacting with students and witnessing firsthand the transformative potential of early vision detection.
The true value of KidSight extends beyond statistics. For many children, an undiagnosed vision problem can become a barrier to education, confidence, and opportunity. Recognizing this, Lions ensured that children requiring corrective lenses received them quickly. Spectacles were manufactured and distributed within days, often before the week concluded.
For thousands of children, the world quite literally became clearer.
STRIDES: Walking Towards Better Health
Global Service Week also addressed one of the fastest-growing public health challenges worldwide—diabetes. Throughout the week, Lions conducted diabetes awareness programs and health screenings in parks, educational institutions, and community centres throughout Visakhapatnam.
Screenings were strategically held during early morning hours at popular locations such as Central Park, Shivaji Park, and Beach Road, enabling residents to access preventive healthcare during their daily routines.
The highlight was the STRIDES Walk for Diabetes Awareness, which brought together Lions, healthcare professionals, students, and citizens in a visible demonstration of the importance of active lifestyles and preventive health practices.
The message was simple: early detection saves lives, healthy habits matter, awareness creates action.
Education Through Colour and Creativity
Service sometimes leaves an impact that cannot be measured by numbers alone. At Visakha Government Junior College for Girls, Lions volunteers undertook a campus beautification project designed to create a more inspiring learning environment.
Sections of faded compound walls were transformed into colorful educational murals featuring mathematics, science concepts, motivational messages, environmental themes, and vibrant artwork.
Throughout the day volunteers painted side by side under the Andhra Pradesh sun, turning plain concrete into a visual learning resource.
The volunteers returned home. The murals remain. Every day they continue to encourage and inspire the students who pass them.
More Than One Way to Serve
Global Service Week showcased the diversity of Lions service.
Beyond beach cleanups, health initiatives, and KidSight screenings, participants engaged in numerous additional projects, including:
- Tree plantation drives supporting environmental sustainability
- Project Dignity: menstrual hygiene awareness and sanitary product distribution
- HPV vaccination initiatives for adolescent girls
- Dry ration packing and food distribution for vulnerable families
- Educational support projects
- Community outreach initiatives
- ‘A Ball for All’ program at the Varija School for the Visually Impaired, promoting inclusion through play and recreation
Each project addressed a different community need. Together they reflected the comprehensive and compassionate approach that defines Lions service worldwide.
Listen to what International Second Vice President Dr Manoj Shah had to say about the Global Service Week.
Fellowship Beyond Borders
While the measurable impact of Global Service Week was significant, its greatest success may have been something less tangible.
Throughout the week, Lions from different nations worked together, travelled together, shared meals together, and learned from one another. Ideas were exchanged. Friendships were formed. Partnerships were strengthened. Future collaborations were imagined.
Global Service Week demonstrated that while cultures, languages, and customs may differ, the desire to serve is universal. The experience reinforced a powerful truth: service is a language understood everywhere.
A Legacy for the Future
By February 28, the banners had come down. International participants had begun their journeys home. The photographs had been taken. The celebrations had concluded. Yet the impact remained.
A cleaner coastline. Thousands of children screened. Hundreds of individuals reached through health initiatives. Trees planted. Walls transformed. Communities strengthened. Most importantly, Global Service Week left behind renewed inspiration for what can be achieved when people come together in service.
The success of Global Service Week 2026 was made possible through the vision and leadership of PID V. Vijay Kumar Raju, together with Daniel Marney Elkins and Jessica Graham Elkins of DGRS Labs, supported by International Director Subhash Babu Parvathaneni, Past International Directors K. Vamsidhar Babu, Gary Anderson and Edward Cordes, and the collective efforts of the leadership of MD 316, local Lions clubs, community partners, government agencies, healthcare professionals, educators and hundreds of dedicated volunteers.
Special mention must also be made of the doctors from India and the United States who worked tirelessly throughout the week, bringing their expertise and compassion to thousands of beneficiaries and playing a vital role in the success of the program.
For MD 316, Global Service Week lasted eight days. For the communities it touched, its impact will continue for years.
And for everyone who participated, it was a reminder that when Lions from around the world come together with a shared purpose, service becomes more than an activity—it becomes a force capable of transforming lives.
We Serve. Together.
