AN EXCITING STORY OF VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONATION MOVEMENT IN ANCHERICHIRA VILLAGE

[BEST PRACTICE DOCUMENTATION UNIT OF KSACS]

AN EXCITING STORY OF VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONATION MOVEMENT IN ANCHERICHIRA
VILLAGE

Anchery is a small but fast growing village in Thrissur District, the
Cultural Capital of Kerala. The Village is now in news due to its
initiatives in promoting voluntary blood donation. The mega blood
donation camp conducted in the village on 20th June 2010 has become a
record in Kerala State as it bled 464 units of blood from a single
Voluntary Blood Donation Camp. The reason for excitement is that the
entire community of the Ancherichira Village have become active
associates of the campaign, organized as part of the World Blood Donor
Day’ observance in the District.

The Merchants Association of Ancherichira Village (The Kerala Vyapari
Vyavasai Ekopana Samithy, Ancherichira unit was the organizer of the
programme. Nearly two hundred merchants from the village are the
members of the association. The District Blood Donation Forum promoted
by Kerala State AIDS Control Society with the management support of
Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust has given necessary
technical guidance and moral support to the programme.

While planning the programme, the Organizer of the campaign intended
only to accomplish the highest number of bleeding from a single camp,
to surpass the existing records in the State. But the programme
succeeded in converting the campaign into a community movement, where
the community members internalized the need for voluntary blood
donation and decided to act accordingly in donating blood voluntarily
at regular intervals.

Preparations for the campaign started in the month of May 2010. The
participatory planning process and the preparatory communication
campaigns of the programme in the Village were so effective, that it
inspired the whole community to become active partners in the
voluntary blood donation programme. As a result, the community took
the whole responsibility of a week long campaign conducted as part of
the Day observance. They themselves organized awareness classes,
motivation camps and house visits in the village to sensitize and
induce the community members to join the voluntary blood donation
movement of the Ancherichira Village in saving the lives of hapless
persons with illnesses or injuries.

The members of the Merchants Association divided themselves in groups
and visited every nook and corner of the village with the messages of
Voluntary Blood Donation. The technical team from HLFPPT and District
Blood Donation Forum accompanied them with necessary technical inputs.
The Campaign Committee formed by the members of the village,
themselves identified and arranged necessary resources viz. human
resource, financial resource, etc., for the well conduct of the
campaign.

The air conditioned venue for blood donation, gift for all the
volunteers who donated the blood in the camp, IEC Materials, vehicles
for transportation, decorations of the venue and the roadway to the
venue, entertainments during the camp, refreshments, etc. were
arranged with the support of sponsors identified by the campaign
Committee. Each member of the Merchants Association brought a minimum
of three volunteers to the camp on their own responsibility.
Another innovation of the camp is that all the thirty two recently
married couples in the village donated their blood during the camp.
School going children of the Village demonstrated a massive rally to
infuse the message of voluntary blood donation to the community on the
day prior to the bleeding camp. Poster exhibitions on voluntary blood
donation were also arranged during the campaign to fortify the
messages delivered.

Blood banks of the Indian Medical Association, Jubilee Medical
College, District Hospital, and Government Medical College
participated in the blood donation camp. They arranged twenty six
bleeding counters in the camp. Several prominent personalities from
Kerala participated in the mega campaign. The participation and
involvement of the community in the campaign indicates the positive
change happened in the mindset of the community regarding Voluntary
Blood Donation by the deliberate interventions of Kerala State AIDS
Control Society under NACP-III. The community movement at
Ancharilchira Village will become a model for the rest of the Villages
in the State. The people of Kerala pay homage to all the
philanthropists involved in this campaign transforming it into a
community movement.