The first Angels of Change Volunteer Training Program for the year of 2018 was conducted for the students of St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science on 03^rd February 2018 from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. The training was attended by 12 students and one staff as well as an individual from Bengaluru.  This training was for volunteers to speak to others about organ donation. The students are organising an intercollegiate event on 23^rd February 2018 on the topic of Organ Donation.

The training  started with an introduction about MOHAN Foundation and its activities by Dr. Hemal Kanvinde. She gave an in depth information about the contents of  the book and the DVD’s that were distributed to the trainees.

The session was followed by an awareness talk about Organ Donation by Mr. T. S. Siva Shankar. He explained the concepts in a detailed manner the following points:

1. Organ Donation
2. Types of Donors
3. Organ Donation at each stages
4. Brain Death and Coma
5. Donor Card.

The session went on for 30 minutes and everyone cleared their doubts with him.

The session was then taken over by Mr. Ruban Victor, Transplant Coordinator. He gave a talk on Donor Coordination i.e., what will be the role of a transplant coordinator when a patient arrives in the hospital and is declared Brain Death. He shared his experience of the donor coordination which was his first case in Pondicherry Institute of Medical Science.

The session was then continued by Mr. A. Ahmed Hussain, a heart recipient. He shared his entire experience while undergoing tests, registration process and pre and post-transplant surgery. Everyone was amazed by his story. He acknowledged the support from his wife to keep him positive while he was very sick. He said that “It felt like am going to die, but I got my heart in the right time. I thank God and my donor for giving my life back”.

Two trainees also spoke of their experience – one was Mr. Britzer Paul – who spoke of the importance of a social worker for a recipient, based on his experience as a physician assistant in a liver transplant unit; another one was Mr Niraj Kumar a CKD patient who explained how he is striving to keep himself fit for surgery and at the same time earn enough to finance his surgery and not depend on family. He said the most difficult part was to keep emotionally strong and positive.

Then the students were divided into two groups -  events group and public awareness group. The events group had a discussion with the team and gave some good ideas in promoting this social cause. The public awareness practised their presentationsand gave mock presentation to other students present.

At last the feedback forms were given to the students and the session ended with a group photo. The students promised that after the intercollegiate meet, to have a rally on Organ Donation near their College.