On 26^th December 2019, MOHAN Foundation conducted an awareness session on organ donation at Rajkiya Pratibha Viakas Vidyalaya (RPVV), Shalimar Bagh. Mr. Vijay Kumar, Head librarian took the initiative to organize the awareness session for the students of class IX and XI. Ms. Pallavi Kumar was the resource person from MOHAN Foundation and was accompanied with Ms. Shriya Negi.

Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) Shalimar Bagh established in the year 2001 is one the 21 RPVV schools established as a system of alternate schools for gifted students in Delhi. The school is known for its outstanding result and considered as one of the best government school in Delhi. The school is run by the Directorate of Education, Delhi, under the Department of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi. RPVV Shalimar Bagh is a co-educational school affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, with classes from VI to XII standard.

Mr. Vijay addressed the audience and acquainted them with MOHAN Foundation and how the foundation spreads awareness in the field of organ donation. Then he gave a brief introduction about Ms. Pallavi Kumar and invited her to take the session forward.

Ms. Pallavi Kumar interacted with the students and discussed about organ donation. She explained to them the basic concepts of organ donation with the help of a powerpoint presentation. She told them about the types of donors and the organs that can be donate after death. She enlightened the students about Transplantation of Human Organ Tissue Act (THOTA) and threw light on immediate blood relative and other than near relative donors.

While speaking on the subject of brain death, a short video was shown for better understanding and clarity. During her talk she shared the current statistics of organ donation in India in comparison to other countries. She explained the students that Spain leads the world in organ donation due to an opt out system unlike India which is opt-in where people have to actively sign up to a register to donate their organs after death. She briefed students about how cornea donation takes place at home and the steps that one can follow for cornea donation.

Ms. Pallavi also touched on the topic of myths and misconceptions related to organ donation and shared misconceptions that exist among people and sometimes these myths can prevent someone from signing up. Explaining the myth on whether religion prohibits organ donation, she explained that most religions endorse the act of giving and what bigger form of giving can there be than giving life to someone. She concluded her talk with few donor-recipient stories.

The interaction post session was lively as the students asked a number of questions and were keen to discuss on the topic.

The session was concluded with a vote of thanks given by a senior teacher, Mr. Hitender Kumar. He appreciated the talk and the important work done by the Foundation in the field of organ donation. More than 150 Students and 6 staff members attended the session.