Two women from Kerala have embarked on a scooter expedition from Thiruvananthapuram to Amritsar and back to Ernakulam, covering 20 cities en route, to spread the message of voluntary blood donation.
Tuna Bastin, an Investigation Officer with Star Health Insurance, and Sajna Ali, a volunteer of Tejus, a blood donation forum, began their expedition “Ride 4 Blood” from Thiruvananthapuram on April 21 touching Puducherry on Monday.
The 20-day trip had been organised by Tejus in association with Terumo Penpol, Kerala Blood Donors Society and Federation of Indian Blood Donors Organisations, under the Vision 2020 programme.
Motivating people
Sajna Ali, who quit her job as a software engineer two years ago and took to volunteering and travelling, told The Hindu that the objective of this expedition was to motivate people to donate blood.
The Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram alone required more than 500 units a day.
There were several misconceptions among the people about blood donation. “We have been creating awareness among people on the need to donate blood at destinations en route,” she said.
Ms. Bastin and Ms. Ali usually start their journey at 4 a.m. covering a minimum of 350 km a day. Their highest in a day was covered on Monday with 460 km. They wind up at 6 p.m. creating awareness among the locals and college students at their respective destinations.
From Puducherry, Ms. Bastin and Ms. Ali will travel to Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Ranchi, Delhi and Amritsar before covering the west coast.
The two undertook scooter expedition from Kochi to Kashmir last year.