On October 10, 2024, MOHAN Foundation (MF) was invited to conduct an awareness session on organ donation for the 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade students of St. Columbus School, New Delhi. The session was organized with the help of Ms. Vaishali, Nursing Officer at Kalavati Saran Children Hospital, who contacted the MF 24/7 helpline. Ms. Vaishali was familiar with MOHAN Foundation from previous sessions conducted by the Delhi NCR team at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Kalawati Hospital. Ms. Sanya Santosh then coordinated further, liaising with Ms. Preetika Sawhney, a teacher at St. Columbus, and the session was organized in collaboration with the school's Science Club.
The session was led by Ms. Simran Anand and Ms. Sanya Santosh, Programme Officers at MF, NCR.
Ms. Sanya began by introducing MOHAN Foundation to the students and briefly explaining key terminologies related to organ donation, such as "recipient" and "donor." She covered the following topics using a PowerPoint presentation:
• The current state of organ donation in India
• The meaning of organ donation
• Organ donation during life and after death
• Brain death, its causes, and how it differs from a coma
Ms. Simran then took over and explained:
• Eye donation and the procedures to preserve corneas after death
• An overview of the Human Organ Transplantation Act of 1994, including the mandatory "required request" clause
• Contraindications that may prevent organ donation
• The role of MOHAN Foundation
• Dispelling myths and sharing facts about organ donation
To engage the students, several interactive questions were posed, such as:
• Which organs can be donated while a person is still alive?
• Is a brain-dead person considered alive or dead?
The students became particularly interested when they learned that Ms. Preetika, their teacher, had pledged to donate her corneas after her death.
Ms. Simran also introduced the students and faculty to the Angels of Change program, which trains volunteers to conduct organ donation awareness sessions for various audiences.
Ms. Preetika expressed her enthusiasm for supporting this important cause, stating her intention to contribute further after her retirement.
The session was highly interactive, with students asking insightful questions, including:
• Why can only close relatives donate organs as living organ donors?
• Why is emotional & psychological well-being crucial for living organ donors?
• Will the organs of a brain-dead patient eventually die if their ventilator is turned off?
Ms. Preetika thanked MOHAN Foundation for conducting the informative session and offered to organize similar sessions in the future for higher secondary students.
Approximately 60 participants attended the session.
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