On June 11, 2024, MOHAN Foundation's organ donation ambassador Ms. Riyaa Palan organised an awareness workshop for the employees of Schindler India. This was the third talk Riyaa had delivered since last year, under the guidance of Ms. Jaya Jairam, Project Director at MOHAN Foundation.

The room was full with about 80 employees looking back intently - some of whom were also field workers; so, to see them take out time from their working hours to attend this session on a Tuesday morning, was heart-warming.

 After a brief introduction, Riyaa started off by sharing information on the organ donation scenario in India, by presenting recent statistics. More sensitive topics were gradually approached - such as, types of death and possible organs and tissues that could be donated. After presenting each piece of information / concept, Ms. Jaya and Riyaa paused and interacted with the employees to help them absorb the idea of ‘brain stem death’ and ease conversations around it.

These interactions were especially beautiful because so many attendees shared stories about their experiences with organ donation - For instance, one of them spoke about how their friend’s son, at a very young age, had succumbed to brain death in an accident and in spite of the unimaginable grief that his parents might have been subjected to, they decided to donate his organs. Even though he might not have lived for long, that little boy is a hero: He gave so many patients and their families hope in the form of the gift of life!

Additionally, information on the types of donors, importance of deceased donations were all discussed. Ms. Jaya and Riyaa thereafter spoke about their individual journeys with organ donation. Feeling overwhelmed, Riyaa shared, "Before this session, I drew inspiration from my own grandfather’s story (who had donated his eyes, liver and kidney after death) as well as from that of Ms. Jaya’s (who herself is a kidney recipient). However, now, I have so many more beautiful stories to feel inspired by and I have these thoughtful and wonderful attendees from the session to thank".

After the session, many of the employees approached Riyaa and Ms Jaya with follow-up queries - For instance, one of the employees also raised an interesting point about the window in which the organ needed to be retrieved and transplanted. Here, the concept of green corridors was explained to them and the significance of the deceased person’s family acting as promptly as possible to give permission for the procedure to take place.

Looking back in hindsight, this was quite an enriching experience and we are truly grateful to have had the opportunity to interact with such a committed and diligent community - They were so touched and inspired by the cause that we are also in the process of planning another one of these sessions at Schindler’s Head office in Powai. 

We are thankful to Schindler India for their support. It would be remiss of us if we did not appreciate and acknowledge the efforts of Riyaa and her father Kalpesh Palan in not just supporting the cause, but also going beyond by being a donor family.