Volunteers from BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) organised an organ donation awareness stall during the Krishna Janmashtami celebrations at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford on Sunday 2 September 2018.
BAPS is leading a project to raise awareness about living organ donation among Hindus in a programme funded by NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT). The awareness drive at Bhaktivedanta Manor was supported by a number of charities and organisations, including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the National BAME Transplant Alliance (NBTA) and Sewa Day.
Organ donation is the giving of an organ to someone who needs it, to save or transform their life. There are two ways of donating an organ: a living donation or a donation after death. A living donor is someone who donates an organ whilst they are alive.
More than 30 volunteers engaged with visitors and distributed over 1,500 educational leaflets printed in Gujarati, Hindi and English to members of the local and wider Hindu communities. The leaflets conveyed important messages about living organ donation and encouraged people of all ages and backgrounds to join the national organ donation register. Approximately 850 organ donation registration forms were distributed.
Kirit Modi, Honorary President of the NBTA joined volunteers from BAPS to promote organ donation awareness to larger audiences with announcements in the main event marquee. Hindus donors shared personal testimonies with the many hundreds of visitors whilst information and organ donation registration forms were distributed.
A video testimony was played charting the story of Jay and Sina Patel, who made the difficult decision to donate organs of their three-year-old son after he lost his life in an accident. The videos also enforced positive messages of Hindu perspectives and principles supporting organ donation as a form of ‘seva’ (selfless service).
One member of the local Hindu community said, “It’s great that you [BAPS] are doing this. I have learned so much about living organ donation today. Our family has been meaning to join the organ donation register for a while, but today we have been able to do so, and now all are registered.”
Dr Chandni Dalia, a BAPS volunteer, added, “This has been a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness about organ donation amongst Hindu families and to address concerns in a sensitive manner. It has been well-supported and a huge success, highlighting how Hindu communities can unite to raise awareness for such an important issue.”
BAPS has been campaigning to raise awareness about this issue and encourage Asians and Hindus to sign up to the organ donation register through a series of local and national events since 2011. The latest campaign specifically aims to raise awareness about living organ donation among Hindus, addressing the anxiety and hesitation that exists about discussing this as an alternative to dialysis.
For further information about BAPS’s organ donation drive in the UK, please visit http://londonmandir.baps.org/forthcoming-events/living-organ-donation/
