Blood Donation Camp of 21st March, 2015

We planned a blood donation camp, that has now become an annual event, on 21-03-2015. We discussed it with Kharagpur Voluntary Blood Donors' Organization (KVBDO) long back. The idea was to have staggered blood donation so that there is never an excess, neither the blood banks around us allowed to go dry. Team from Midnapore Blood Bank came. Venue selected was Transit Hostel, opposite to our B C Roy Technology Hospital. Needless to say that we got due cooperation from our own hospital.

The campaign started with emailing, putting up banner etc. The blood bank requirement was of 75 units. And we had no choice to stop registration on this count after 80, but took care not to dishearten all those who were there in queue. There were UG students, PG students, faculty members, husband-wife coming together for donation. Truly, it looked like a festival, a festival where we celebrated joy of giving.

But, aren't there still a lack of awareness, a fear of needle-prick, or a general indifference towards blood donation in our society? We realize its importance only when it hurts us and when we have to look for donors for someone close to us. Blood is not something that can be chemically synthesized, it can come from another human and blood donated voluntarily is of highest quality as professional donors often carry one or the other disease.

Thus, we thought to record video message of voluntary blood donors of this camp. It was a very interesting experience. One said that it was an auspicious day being Telugu New Years Day and she wanted to engage in some auspicious activity which was this. Many were first timers while there were persons who have already donated 7-8 times and who do not let go any opportunity. There were motivations from family to come forward where in some cases parents were little worried. For one, it was an activity where return to effort ratio is extremely high and that's bring him to blood donation. With 15 minutes effort the amount of service that can be rendered to society and satisfaction gained is unparalleled.

Seventy two video messages from 73 out of 80 donors of this camp is available in this playlist (Link), perhaps a unique collection from an event like this. Some of the videos of this camp are given below.

A 16 minute overview of how the camp progressed:

Some of the video messages (no particular order):