About
This project was born out of a road journey from Bangalore to Scotland by Anil Srivatsa, Co-Founder of Radiowalla Network Pvt. Ltd as a means to promote more awareness about Organ Donation. The rationale was that once there is awareness, it is time to test the willingness of people to become potential donors. based on insight, ignorance and fear are two strong deterrents that prevent folks from becoming organ donors and we at Gift of Life Adventure Foundation (GOLA) are determined to do our bit to dispel both roadblocks.
Anil made this commitment to reach a million donors and motivate them to sign up at a press conference held at the British Parliament upon completion of the 31000 KM road trip called the Gift of Life Adventure (GOLA) that began in Bangalore, India and ended at John O Groates in Scotland, UK
During the many discussions and chats about organ donation along this journey, it became evident that most Asians and Indians abroad and in India shied away from discussing the subject on organ donation within their families, however, went ahead and signed up with some organization without informing them (The family). This led to many next of kin to go against the wishes of the deceased and a body was lost to save more lives.
In Norway the GOLA team met with an organization that worked in the space of organ donation and they used an app to bridge the gap between the donor and their families and such a simple idea gave Anil the inspiration to set a task of getting a million donors signed up with the creation of a similar app.
An App that helps people sign up to become organ donors and then trigger a conversation with the family where the app sends a message to selected family and close friends to share the news. This share triggers a dialogue with the family and the donors wishes are known within the family.
The Million Donor Project facilitates the signing up of donors with their families. Once this is done it is less important to sign up with any other organization because it is expected that the family, once in the know and co-opted to the donor’s wish and decision to donate, will do the right thing and inform the right people at the right time.
Once signed up, a Donor card is generated for the record and this can be shared with physicians, caregivers, next of kin or close friends and to inspire others by sharing their decision on social media. Remember every country has it’s own law that governs Organ Donation so please make yourself familiar with them before assuming you are a viable organ donor. It has to work with the law.
TeamGOLA continues to drive around the world in various adventures supported by friends, family, the community via crowd funding and the very generous sponsors who power this herculean human endeavor of one man and his crew to travel the world to take the word about organ donation as far and wide.
SPEAKER INVITES
During these journeys people along the way help set up talks for him so he can share his story as a Kidney Donor in a talk that is filled with information relevant to making a strong decision to donate organs. If you are interested in inviting Anil Srivatsa to be a speaker, please do not hesitate to write an email to giftoflifeadventure (at) gmail (dot) com
For the past 4 years TeamGOLA has driven across 41 countries for over 300 days driving about 85000kms in our quest to bring attention to a life giving gesture that more should be making. Lack of Information creates fear and with Anil as an example, we want to tell his story and attempt to put to rest all fears and inspire people to willingly donate organs. We want to show them that life post a kidney transplant cannot just be normal but also extra ordinary. Show them what it is like to live not just one life but two. During our drives Anil has spoken to over 45000 people in gatherings and organized talks and the mission is on.
The other part of our mission is to make the painful bureaucratic and legal system of India more responsive to patients and donors. We have helped file a few writ petitions in the Karnataka High court in India to ensure patients get the government approvals to get a smooth transplant process and as a result create case laws for others to cite if they need to for their own cases. I use the money raised to also fight these court battles. We have prevailed in the courts so far via the Gift of life Adventure Foundation a non profit trust set up in India and USA. Anil is an American citizen from New Jersey also spending time in India and have focused our efforts in Bangalore as this nation has a lot to de-clutter for the benefits of organ donation to be seen and felt. Part of the money raised will also go towards
1. Funding the law suits
2. To Carbon Neutralize the road Journey
Please do google ‘Gift of Life Adventure’ for more about the body of work we have achieved with the help of so many people and organizations. Also do visit the facebook page ‘gift of life adventure’ and our YouTube channel with the same name. Oh and please don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel
INTERNSHIPS
We are open to young minds interested in development and social education work to approach us for internships. The internships can be globally located and can involve managerial, clerical, fund raising and Ambassadorship functions to help amplify our objectives at the GOLA Foundation.