On August 8, 2025, Mr. Gabriel Pereira, Organ Donation Ambassador with MOHAN Foundation, conducted an awareness talk on organ donation for students and teachers at St. Francis Xavier High School, Macasana, Goa.
Headmistress Mrs. Linda Fernandes welcomed Mr. Pereira and informed the students that he would be explaining the concepts of organ donation.
Mr. Pereira expressed his gratitude to the headmistress, the school management, and the students for the opportunity, and thanked Tr. Alba Macarenhas for coordinating the programme. He introduced himself and shared that his mission to spread awareness about organ donation was inspired by a personal experience with kidney failure in his family. Encouraging students and teachers to spread the message in their communities, including temples and churches, he also invited them to reach out to him for future awareness sessions.
Through a PowerPoint presentation, he covered key aspects of organ and tissue donation, including:
• Organs and tissues that can be donated after circulatory death and brain-stem death
• The medical definition and implications of brain-stem death
• The differences between coma and brain-stem death
• The process of pledging to become an organ donor after turning 18
The session included informative videos introducing MOHAN Foundation, explaining brain death, and sharing the testimony of Ms. Shreya Siddanagowder. To reinforce his message, Mr. Pereira recommended the film Aye Zindagi(available on YouTube), based on the true story of Vinay, a software engineer diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, and his journey with grief counsellor Revathy Rajan—whose character is inspired by Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director of MOHAN Foundation, who chose to donate her son’s organs after his passing.
To enhance understanding, he distributed flyers with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and emphasised the importance of informing family members about one’s decision to donate organs, as family consent is essential for the process.
The session was attended by around 60 students. Ten donor cards were distributed to teachers, along with FAQ flyers for the Parents and Teachers Association meeting scheduled for August 9, 2025.
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