How far will one go to encourage people to give the ‘gift of life’? Several continents, would be the answer of this bunch of seven, who will set out on a road trip from Bengaluru to Scotland on April 1. Their purpose: to urge people to donate organs to those in need.
It all started when 48-year-old Anil Srivatsa, CEO of an Internet radio company from the city, realised how much his one deed of donating a kidney to his older brother – a neurosurgeon in a city hospital – could do.
“I realised that I had saved the life of a person who is saving more lives now. It really is giving someone the gift of life. Yes, you undergo a surgery; yes, you recover later than the recipient. But once you recover, you are back to normal,” he said, ahead of the journey he is going to undertake.
The teamAccompanying Mr. Srivatsa in his 18-country, three-month drive, in two SUVs, will be his wife and two children, two friends from Punjab and Hyderabad, and Vishwas Avathi, a filmmaker from Bengaluru, who will not only be uploading short videos of the journey everyday (https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCAazEewobxc3hs7o1GuaLsg), but will also be making a one-and-a-half-hour documentary at the end of the journey. While the children have their summer vacations, the adults are taking a long break from their full-time jobs to go on the trip.
PreparationsApart from the usual preparations that one can expect for a journey of this nature – vaccinations, medical supplies, and travel and camera care insurances, the group also had to take care of getting their visas in place, for all the countries they will traverse. They aim to change how people think about organ donation and hope to convince as many people as they can to volunteer to be donors. The group has not booked accommodation in all the places they will be travelling to. “There are vast stretches where there is nothing. We are carrying tents to camp out in such places,” said Mr. Avathi. In all, the trip — partly sponsored — will cost each of them Rs. 10 lakh.
The group will get in touch with organisations and individuals working in similar areas, or those who have donated organs, and cover their stories. They have also readied flyers and brochures on organ donation to educate people across boundaries.
