A village sets a record in service

 An entire village in  Thrissur is set to create a record in humanitarian service. Pootharakkal village

on the outskirts of the town will  become the first organ-donor literate village in the country. 

At a public function on Saturday, as many as 2,000 villagers  will hand over their consent letters for donating organs to the Kidney Federation of India, an initiative of  Father Davis Chiramel, the crusader for organ donations.

The organs are to be donated after their death.  The occasion is part of the  ‘Manava Karunya Yatra’, a public awareness initiative by the KFI, which will start from Kasargod and end in Thiruvananthapuram.

Fr Chiramel, 52, who  donated one of his kidneys to a  stranger three years ago, has been inspiring the villagers to donate organs for the past few months.

“It is our humble effort to join hands with his mission to collect 10,00,000 organ donation declaration forms (Mrita Sanjeevani) from the general public in the state,” villagers said. 

Saturday’s event is a send-off to the priest who would set out to join the ‘Manava Karunya Yatra’ in the morning.

The campaign to donate organs began here about a couple of weeks ago during an interaction programme among the villagers, including various religious leaders and political outfits, the priest and other kidney donors.

As part of the campaign, the priest, who is also the vicar of a church here and chairman of the KFI, visited all the houses in the village and conducted awareness camps.

Fr Chiramel said the movement has inspired many to donate organs.  “It’s our effort to sensitise the public about the importance of organ donation,’’ he said.

He is also confident of collecting 10,00,000 Mrita Sanjeevanis.

The drive to donate organ is being taken up as part of the kidney bank launched by the KFI and also to promote communal harmony, he added.