On May 13, 2026, MOHAN Foundation conducted an awareness session on “Innovation in Grassroot Advocacy” for the students of Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Thandalam, Chennai. Around 120 first-year Computer Science and Business Design Engineering students participated in the session. Every student was provided sir a green ribbon and information brochures on eye donation, organ donation and lung health. 

The first session was conducted by Dr. Hemal Kanvinde – Quality Assurance Officer, On Innovation at Grassroots level for health education. She highlighted how different forms of media and youth-led initiatives can be effectively used to spread awareness about organ donation and inspire positive social change. She also emphasized the importance of grassroots advocacy for organ donation in India and encouraged students to become active advocates for organ donation within their communities and on digital platforms.

The session was followed by an interactive quiz based on Tamil Movies, through which myths and facts related to organ donation were explained using references from popular films, making the session engaging and relatable for the students.

The next session was conducted by Ms. Kanishka – Project Executive, who spoke about cornea donation awareness, the causes of corneal blindness, and how cornea donation helps restore sight. She also explained the process of cornea donation, precautions to be taken, and the steps involved in becoming a donor.

 The program continued with Dr. Hemal Kanvinde explaining various aspects of organ donation awareness, including the different types of organ donation, brain death and circulatory death, and the importance of organ donation through recipient stories. She also guided students on how to pledge organs and encouraged them to lead by example in promoting organ donation awareness.

 The session was highly interactive, with students actively raising several thoughtful questions, including:

• Whether artificial kidneys or other organs have been successfully created 
• Whether there is enough awareness about organ donation in India 
• Why many people remain hesitant to donate their organs 
• Whether protocols can be skipped during emergency situations 
• How skin is retrieved for donation without excessive bleeding 

The session concluded with a testimonial video of a heart recipient, Ahmed Hussain. He shared his inspiring journey after transplantation and urged others to pledge their organs, emphasizing how organ donation can help give someone a second chance at life.

Nearly 50 students collected donor cards for pledging.

 MOHAN Foundation expresses its sincere gratitude to Dr. M. Muthusamy, HOD Department of Mathematics and Dr G Srihari, Department of English for providing the opportunity and support to conduct the awareness session successfully.