The HCL Experience - a special feature on the organ donation initiative by HCL Technologies, Chennai.

The buzzword is corporate social responsibility; but it hasn’t been just words, but words followed by defi nite action in much of the corporate sector. It has been established that corporate support can help sustain the good work of many non-government organisations (NGOs). A case in point is HCL Technologies’ Community Service Council’s initiative to spread awareness on organ donation in collaboration with MOHAN Foundation. With the number of people with organ failure climbing every year and with the horror stories of organ traffi cking emerging every so often, it is imperative that action is taken and taken soon. The need of the hour is to increase the number of cadaver organ donations from brain dead patients. At present, the cadaver organ donation rate in India is a meagre 0.05 per million population. The first step towards rectifying this is to educate and enlighten the community about the myths and realities of brain death and organ donation. HCL Technologies’ initiative has given MOHAN Foundation a vast platform from which to do this. Ever since MOHAN Foundation’s first interaction with the Community Service Council (CSC), the response from the members has been extremely enthusiastic and positive.

Following a presentation on organ donation and a day-long interaction at one of the units, over three hundred IT professionals signed up. This initiative was spearheaded by Mr. Ravi Kishore, Head, Community Service Council   and Rahul Ganapathy Subramaniam from the Ambattur unit, Chennai. Helping us spread the word in the rest of the units were other dedicated CSC members – Raju, Praveen, Muthoo and Sivasakthi in Chennai and Sridevi Devathi in Bangalore. The talks in the various units, whether they were held in the informal ambience of the cafeteria or in a formal lecture hall had one thing in common – an enthusiastic audience with a lot of questions. The questions were probing, thought provoking and sometimes we had no easy answers to give. But, the MOHAN Foundation registration desk at all the venues was testimony to the new mantra at HCL Technologies - Recycle yourself and help someone live   We are indebted to liver transplant surgeons, Dr. Raghu and Dr. Gomathy, for sharing their insights and experiences with the organ donation programme.

HCL MEMBERS SPEAK ON ORGAN DONATION… THE REAL MEANING OF LIFE

Don’t think of organ donation as giving up part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It’s really a total stranger giving up almost all of themselves to keep part of you alive.

- Author Unknown

The concept of Organ and Tissue donation was something new to me. Although a few of my colleagues had prior awareness on the myths and facts of organ donation, we felt that this particular concept should reach the entire society. I have participated in blood donation camps, where after donating the blood, I was satisfied. But after pledging to be an “organ donor” even though I did not donate anything the satisfaction that I got cannot be expressed in words. I was really amazed to see the response from all the employees, when they showed the interest to know about organ donation. I even saw some of the employee’s eyes were filled with tears…  Many felt that “We have not brought anything with us, and we are not going to take anything back when we leave this beautiful world.” To understand organ donation and the shortage of organs for transplants, one needs to have a basic understanding of how people die and what impact it has on whether they can, in fact, be donors or not. This particular awareness is very important for the nation. MOHAN Foundation is doing an excellent service to the society in creating awareness to the public. I am sure that the awareness MOHAN Foundation creates will really make a difference in one’s life.  “Life is like a candle burning bright, brilliantly bright to light other candles,” so be a candle to light others life.

- Rahul Ganapathy Subramaniam, HCLTechnologies Ltd., Ambattur.

The human body is such an amazing architecture   created by God that it should not perish in just one birth. It has to be used for serving others. Total contentment is obtained from serving others rather than serving self.  I feel indebted to the organisers for laying the foundation for me to think beyond. I have been exposed to many lectures, campaigns, and social activities but got the opportunity to actually do something selfless through the Organ Donation camp hosted by MOHAN Foundation. The donor card in my wallet is a constant reminder that I have done something worthwhile and inspires me to do more. Life is measured not by its longevity, but its donation. MOHAN Foundation has given me the capacity for compassion and generosity, and I pray that it continues to spread the inspiring message about the importance of organ donation.

- Mrs.Janani Suryakumar, HCL Technologies Ltd., Ambattur-6

SMART FIFTH GRADERS SHOW THE WAY!

“Are you smarter than a fifth grader” is a successful game show, but MOHAN Foundation, Hyderabad came across a group of fifth graders from DRS International school who were all winners. Following a presentation on organ donation, these fifth graders took the initiative t  write to the President of India about their commitment to the welfare of society. Here is an excerpt from their letter: “We, the children of India, feel responsible to build the bridge between diversity of human beings for unity and human dignity. We all commit ourselves to protect our Planet Earth for the well-being of all who are her children”.

The grade V students of DRS International School Hyderabad, feel privileged to inform you that at our school, we have taken steps to ensure that we become responsible citizens and protect the resources of Planet Earth. Our education at school and MOHAN Foundation’s presentation has helped us integrate our learning on interdependence. On 29th March 2008, we have planned to encourage our local community to donate their body organs as part of social service to mankind. We believe it’s our shared responsibility to save our earth and make this planet a beautiful place to live for generations to come.”