400 Bags of Blood, One Shared Humanity: A Story of Young People Coming Together

Why We Didn’t Give Up With 400 Blood Bags!

##Overview

Despite having exam time during we still faced challenges.

However, we were able to talk to a wide range of students across the University to gain an amazing result of 400 blood bags.

##Not the best start

We wanted to encourage students to volunteer to help those who need regular blood donations.

However, whilst regular blood donations are very important to those with Thalassemia, we didn’t realise how hard it would be to get enough students involved.

##Not very inspiring.

University can be a busy time for students and they might have been focussed on getting their midterms in over the winter. Whilst we wanted to inspire the university community, we didn’t manage to get everyone involved.

We felt defeated. When organising events for charities we want to show students how important it is to get involved and inspire them to get involved. However, we saw how few students actually had interest and felt defeated.

We would be doing a disservice to those we were trying to help.

##Talking to students

We didn’t just sit around waiting for students to come.

By talking to students we were able to engage everyone. We talked about those who need regular blood donations and how their families don’t know what the future holds. We also found out how much of an impact a small donation can have on someone you might not even know. Although not all students would donate blood we hoped they would understand why.

##Positive mood

More students were engaged and some decided to come along themselves. Others encouraged their friends to come. We were creating excitement due to our persistence.

I have learnt that just because students don’t jump at the chance to get involved doesn’t mean they don’t care. They are often busy with their daily lives, don’t understand why they should get involved or simply just need showing.

Amazingly it wasn’t just an individual effort.

We had the support of the Marwat Welfare Society and those donating. We were able to engage students from a variety of backgrounds. Members from the Pakhtun Student Federation went above and beyond to donate their blood. Members from the People’s Student Federation supported us. Everyone came together regardless of who they were.

One of my favourite things about this campaign was seeing students from across the University come together. They all had different opinions and backgrounds but all had the same passion to help humanity.

##400 Blood Bags!

We managed to collect 400 blood bags throughout our campaign.

Although we were shocked to get more than we ever expected, when we reflected on the day we realised how important talking to students was. We saw how many students took the time out of their day to donate blood.

This showed that 400 people were generous with their time. Patients who need regular blood transfusions (such as those suffering with Thalassemia) will always need donations, hopefully we helped some.

We will never know who we helped but we might never meet these families. However, it gave our donations meaning.

Throughout the campaign we had some amazing comments from our Vice Chancellor Dr Imran Khan and ICS/IT Director Javeed Bangash. Knowing we had the support of high up individuals gave me a huge confidence boost. I was reminded that Universities are not just about learning but getting involved and helping the community.

##Reflection

Initially I was worried about how many people we would get involved with but by the end of the day I was more focussed on why they got involved.

I have learnt so much throughout this campaign. Whilst setting up a humanitarian project might seem easy by just finding a space and planning it actually takes persistence! Some days people won’t jump at the chance to get involved and everyone will be busy with their own lives. This can make you unsure if you will be successful but it’s important to remember why you got involved in the first place.

I have a new perspective on leadership. I used to always worry about the responsibility I would have as a leader and making sure we achieved our goals. However, I have learnt it’s about creating an opportunity for others to get involved in something meaningful. How successful our campaign was will depend on those who got involved.

I am extremely thankful to all the students, volunteers and supporters who got involved.

Knowing you donated to someone whose name you might never know is an amazing feeling. The donor can go back to their studies and daily life knowing that somewhere someone might have received the blood they needed. They might never meet but they have connected through their generosity.

What I have learnt from collecting 400 blood bags from the University of Agriculture, Peshawar.

We wanted to inspire people to donate blood throughout the day but I have been reminded how powerful we can be to make people care for each other by giving them a reason and opportunity to.

Maybe the message from this story is that hundreds of people decided to stand up for those they might never meet.