THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A sum of Rs 1,200 may not be a lot for most people, but for Sundari Amma of Nedumangad, the amount donated by students of College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, helped her conduct the mandatory Covid test before getting treatment at a hospital. On the other hand, it served Ponnamma from Alappuzha to manage her daily commutation to the hospital for dialysis.
When students of CET, launched ‘Prathyasha’, they were none the wiser of its various effects. The SIP (Students Initiative in Palliative Care) units, collected Rs 1,200 from each class, hoping to donate the money to 80 patients undergoing dialysis. Initiated as a part of celebrating the 80th anniversary of the college, the first 25 donations reached patients in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital by February.
However, a major portion of the ensuing activities took place after the pandemic set in. Invariably, the beneficiaries were poor and help came at a time when the lockdown made them poorer. They also included patients who would have halted their medical treatment due to other pressing needs. Student volunteers reached out to elderly women, daily labourers, mechanics and auto-rickshaw drivers across the state.
Health workers, local activists and grama panchayat members helped in identifying the beneficiaries. Often, students visited beneficiaries braving the virus. When a beneficiary became Covid-19 positive, the house visit was avoided and the money was provided through the respective anganwadi worker of the area. Students carried out the activities amid their online classes.
“I was elated when the beneficiaries told me how much the money meant to them,” said Awadhesh Kiran, a SIP coordinator and final-year mechanical engineering student. Thushara and Aslah, final-year students, are the other two coordinators of SIP.
Athijeev
Another major initiative by the National Service Scheme unit of CET was the successful campaign for blood donation which involved students from other engineering colleges in the state. Thirty-seven colleges came forward to arrange 254 donations during the pandemic. Among them, NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, arranged the maximum number of blood donations amounting to 65.
Named ‘Athijeev’, which translates to survival, the donations took place between September 25 and October 1 when the rising number of Covid-19 cases created a shortage in several blood banks. The target was to achieve 150 donations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. But donations far exceeded the target as many students overcame the concerns of visiting a hospital during the pandemic. “We organised the campaign by stressing the need for blood donation,” said Vishnu V and Nithika Suresh, blood secretaries of the NSS unit in CET. ‘Athijeev’ was organised as part of the Erythro, an event being organised in CET with the support of Terumo Penpol for the last three years to promote voluntary donation.