Donate blood & Save lives

Quite a while, it has been, since I shared something that is not only non-technical but also in sync with my blog's caption.

Being helpful to one another is the least that we could do. We should not only be mindful of not harming others but also equally mindful of helping others. This is still more relevant in these changing times.

Blood donation is one such act of reaching out and helping those in need. Regarding titling this blog post "Donate blood & Save lives" in old fashioned manner, few things are better that way! In any case, as old as it sounds, it is as much valid and important even today :)

Donate blood

Blood donation is a very special way of volunteerism. One may not always have the required resources to be of assistance to others. However, blood donation does not require anything else except your good health and willingness. While other forms of giving bring joy to you psychologically, blood donation is unique in the way that it additionally gives many health benefits and improves you physically too.

Register yourself
 
Register your willingness to donate blood at any of the noted blood donor registry sites like the following; look out for other equivalent sites or channels depending on where you reside.

http://www.bharatbloodbank.com/
http://www.friends2support.org/
http://www.redcrossblood.org/

Make a list

Build a handy list of the people you know with details like their blood group, contact number, when did they last donate etc. This is like a local repository that is available only with you and your folks. You can have different repositories for different groups like family, friends and colleagues. Having such list(s) can come in very handy at unexpected times. Get started by creating an excel with columns like below:

1. S. No.
2. Name
3. Blood Group
4. Last donated
5. Notes

Create awareness

Being aware is one thing. Creating awareness is another altogether. Understand the necessity & benefits of blood donation; explain the same to others. Encourage your family and friends to register and come forward to donate blood. Spread the word around and ask the folks to do the same in turn.

Experience & enjoy the joy of giving and being of assistance to others!

Being helpful

What better way to start blogging in the new year than to write about what has been close to my heart.

To have a mindset to be of help to others, to assist the needy & deserving, and to bring about a change in the society are some of the qualities that one should inculcate. We start consuming from the society right from the time we're born. Not many even pay attention to this. We should not only realize this but also start contributing and giving back to the society. I'm fortunate to have been brought up by my parents and teachers who had placed a lot of emphasis on these aspects. I'd forever be indebted to them for creating an environment conducive to such wonderful thoughts.

The immediate next and straight question that follows is: how to do it? The answer is also equally straightforward: in whatever possible way that one could. If you've the will, you'll easily find ways. There're many different ways. Listed below are few examples:

• You could help someone around you whom you've seen in need of assistance.
• You could become a member of volunteering organizations in your area.
• You could contribute to charities, about which you know for sure, established for a good cause.
• You could look out for articles seeking help in credible newspapers and televisions.
• You could start sharing your learnings and knowledge via blog posts if you've access to computer/Internet!

Personal life, busy schedules and work pressures are always going to be there. Nonetheless one has to try, accommodate and allocate time (even if it is just an hour per week!) to volunteer for service activities.

The message is clear and simple: If you're in a position of being capable of providing assistance to others, then just use the opportunity that you've and help.

Scribe Requirement & Tips

This is a follow-up to the previous post titled "My first experience as a Scribe".

There is a requirement for scribes to write exams tomorrow and day after i.e. on March 2nd and 3rd. Further details on whom to contact and the address of the examination center can be found at http://helpinghandsorg.blogspot.in/2012/02/blind-people-need-scribes-for.html.

It was not so easy to find the required information on that website. Provided below are snippets taken from the same for easy and quick reference:

Finals:
2nd march >> 24 students for Sanskrit, 22 students for Telugu

3rd march >> 38 students for Sanskrit, 37 students for Telugu

Timings: 7:30 to 11:30 am
Place: Kasturba Gandhi College for Women,
Indira Gandhi college,
Govt Junior college,
Marredpally,

Secunderabad - 500026.

More details about this project:
Ajay Veesam : 8801975135
Karthik Reddy : 9494884929
Kiran : 8099523135
Buchi Reddy : 9885113404

Few quick tips that can be helpful if you are planning to be a scribe:

1. Practice writing beforehand for an hour or two if you've lost the habit of writing.
2. Do not hesitate to write an exam with apprehensions about your handwriting not being very good.
3. Do not hesitate to write an exam with apprehensions your writing speed being very less.
4. You can easily confirm the above (2nd and 3rd) fears by showing your sample writing to few friends!
   
5. Plan to reach the examination center at least half-an-hour before the start time.
6. If possible, take the standard set of pen, pencil, eraser & ruler along with you.
7. Always keep a watch on time and your progress & pace to complete.
8. Go and write the exam with as much (or more) sincerity as if you were to write your own exam.

Last but not least, enjoy the joy of giving!

My first experience as a Scribe

Turning to something which is not technical, this post is meant to focus on an even more important aspect: the necessity to feel responsible to help those in need. The responsibility increases further more if the need is because of the person being physically challenged.

I remember registering myself long ago on a web site as a scribe - a person meant to write an examination on behalf of someone with a challenge like blindness, disability in hands/fingers etc. However, I never got any message from them and as such never got any chance to act as scribe. Recently, I got a message forwarded to the group YFS Vikalang requesting for scribes to write the pre-final examinations of Intermediate 2nd year (equivalent to 12th Class) students studying in "Sai Junior College for the Visually Challenged" - which is what has led me to writing this post.

I opted to act as scribe for Telugu language exam as the number of people wanting to write in the regional language was less. The biggest hurdle for me is the fact that I lost touch with hand writing ever since I entered the software development field. As a preparatory step, I practiced to write some text in Telugu the night before.

The examination duration was conveyed as 3 hours spanning from 10 AM to 1 PM. I wanted to be there at the examination center well before time - contradictory to what I used to follow by arriving at the exact time or even a bit late when I wrote exams as a student! I had, hence, started at around 8 AM since the center was quite far from where I stay. It took almost 2 hours to reach and find the place as the locality was like a maze with streets going all over! I arrived at the center eventually by 3 minutes late at 10:03.

Abhinay was the student for whom I set out to write the exam. It started with me initially walking Abhinay through the entire question paper and marking the ones he would be interested in answering. As planned, I tried my best to write the answers as fast and as neat as possible. Due to not writing for so long in so many years, my fingers and hand pained a lot (the pain lasted for 2 days, by the way). However, it still felt good as it was for a good cause.

Abhinay was pretty good when compared to all the other students around. His only downside was that he was a bit slow in recalling and telling me what to write. I kept a watch on the time all the while though. When I realized around 12 noon that there was a good chance of not being able to write all the answers, my dusty brain was quick enough to recall and follow an old trick: to write answers for all the bit questions on a separate sheet and make it ready to attach it to the other sheets in case the examiner snatches the paper away. My guess turned out true. Though time was given till 1:30 PM, we could not answer all the questions. The total number of answer sheets came to a mighty 12 (twelve) - probably the highest in the entire classroom! And, we answered only 70-75% of the questions!!

I told Abhinay after coming out of the classroom that I could not write quick enough to answer all the questions. To my surprise, he honestly pointed out that it was his fault as he usually takes more time to recall and thus lags behind. I inquired if I could accompany him to his room (the hostel also appeared to be co-located) to which he negated and told me he would go by himself. It felt quite painful to leave his hand that I was holding - making the pain in my hand and fingers feel like nothing.

I wished Abhinay the best for his finals and proceeded to travel back.It was about 3 PM by the time I reached home. All in all, it was a day well spent and was wonderful experience for me as a scribe.

The intent of this post is to inspire people to come forward to support one another. At the end of this reading, even if one individual gets motivated and if that motivation leads to helping at least one other person, this post is worth it.