Kochi   :

When two-year-old Mohammed Altaf from Ooty was admitted to a city hospital for heart surgery on Monday, Jishnu Raj received a call in his mobile.

The request was something, which the 24-year-old, who is the Kochi area coordinator for Blood Donors Kerala, has become accustomed to by now. For, the hunt for blood donors in the city often ends with a call to this soon-to-be M.Tech graduate.

While everyone was enjoying a national strike-enforced holiday on Wednesday, Jishnu was busy arranging 50-odd blood donors, which for the youngster was a less hectic day! “I usually get 100-150 calls a day asking for blood donors,” he said.

He also found time to distribute food packets to the destitute under the Snehasadya campaign of We Help Kerala, a voluntary group engaged in charity and social works, of which he is an active volunteer.

Jishnu was drawn into the world of social work seven years back. When driven by the impulse to be a do-gooder, he mobilised youngsters at his native place Vengoor near Perumbavur by founding an organisation named the Vengoor Youths. It has since been active catering to the needs of the impoverished by pooling together the time and resources of its members.

He is also a link in finding organ donators and conducting awareness campaigns on the need to donate organs. He is also working in close association with Datri, the active blood stem donor registry in India. Thanks to the rapport he has built with doctors over the years, he often manages to hold medical camps, especially in areas lacking adequate health facilities.

Jishnu’s constant presence in the social media means that he has become the pointsman for non-resident Keralites looking out for local help. For instance, if someone in the Middle East needs a document back from home then he is the man to turn to. Driven by his guiding philosophy “youths are not useless but used less,” Jishnu believes that given a cause to work towards, youngsters who tread down the wrong path out of sheer idleness can be reformed.

M.P. Praveen

While everyone was enjoying a national strike-enforced holiday on Wednesday, Jishnu was busy arranging

50-odd blood donors.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by M.P Praveen / September 06th, 2015