Where There Is a Will

Whenever I read about blood donation camps in newspapers, it reminds me of the first camp organised in 1993 by our fledgling organization in Chandigarh. We, a few friends inspired by the spirit of social service, formed a youth body at Chandigarh in 1993 with the noble objective of channelizing the energy of youths in constructive and nation-building activities. Organizing blood donation camps, taking relief measures at the time of natural calamities and creating environmental awareness are among the few lofty ideals of the body.

We decided to organize a blood donation camp in the latter half of 1993 as our first initiative. The well-wishers advised us that convincing people to donate blood is a very difficult task. During those days, people were scared of donating blood due to various prevailing myths. Even parents used to discourage their children from donations. We presumed that since it was a noble cause, people would flock to the camp just by reading our appeal in the newspapers and leaflets. One of the our members forewarned about the possible low turn-out of donors, but most of us ignored it.

The destined day approached. The blood bank van and transfusion team from PGI, Chandigarh arrived at the scheduled time with medical kits and refreshments for more than a hundred donors. We had informed them about the probable number of donors. The Chief Guest, a senior IAS officer, also came on time and inaugurated the camp and praised our initiative. To our good fortune, during the stay of the Chief Guest, two full groups of six donors each donated blood.

Our woes began just after the Chief Guest left the venue. Self-seekers, who had come to look for favours from him, also started leaving. Our deep-hearted pleas to them to donate fell on deaf ears. The hall appeared almost empty and only a few volunteers could be seen around. The anticipated flow of donors was nowhere in sight. In the meantime, a news channel team along with video cameras appeared on the scene to cover the event. Finding the beds mostly empty, they left the venue with the assurance of returning later. They never returned.

Donors were few and far between. This annoyed the PGI team as they considered it a waste of their time. Assurance that our volunteers are in the field to motivate the people and they are about to arrive along with donors, soothed them for a while. But not finding the promised donors even after waiting for a long time, the blood bank team got restive and left. We could arrange 29 units of blood.

The experience left us a little demoralized. Someone among us tried to raise the spirit by saying that it is not the quantity but the intention that matters and we should continue with this noble cause. His noble words acted as a balm.

Next year, we changed our strategy and worked more on younger generation and personal social circle. It worked and, since then, camps are regularly being organized with larger participation every year. Till date, 30 camps have been organized and the number of donors in one of the camps even crossed 400. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our volunteers went to PGI to donate blood and platelets in large numbers to meet the scarcity as camps could not be held.

Chandigarh is the only city in India that doesn’t have private blood banks and is free from the menace of professional donors. Its entire blood requirement is met through voluntary donations. The credit goes to the pioneers who created awareness about voluntary blood donation and made it a movement in Chandigarh. The credit also goes to the large-hearted and aware citizens of Chandigarh who religiously donate blood.