Hyderabad techies help war-torn Yemen’s blood donation drive

A database of donors is an initiative of Hyderabad techies

An initiative from a group of techies in Hyderabad to prepare an ‘army’ of voluntary blood donors has found its resonance in the war-torn Republic of Yemen. The simple idea of cutting down the role of middlemen and directly providing contact details of persons willing to donate blood to desperate victims through a website has found takers in Yemen.

To meet the increasing demand of blood that could save precious lives in the Arab country, techies in Hyderabad have transferred the technology and concept to maintain a ‘live’ database of voluntary donors through the website (friends2support.org).

The website, which has amassed contact details of close to 1,50,000 voluntary blood donors across India in the last decade, has now started its operations in Yemen. The site founders are providing the technology, knowledge, operational support and guidance to locals for operating the donors list.

A desperate need for blood in the local hospitals had prompted an IT Manager, Ali Al-Yemani, working in Bajil district of Al Hudaydah Governorate of Yemen to contact website founders in Hyderabad.

“Through a common friend, we got in touch with Mr. Ali Al Yemani and others who urged us to help set up such a website. It’s just over a week that we have started the website in Yemen. Through a series of calls on the Skype in the last few months, we have given all possible guidance to the locals to operate this website,” said Founder, Friends2support, Shareef. Sk.

The website has also attracted a lot of attention from like-minded individuals from other countries in the Indian sub-continent.

“With the help of locals, we have also launched our operations through the website in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Since the website cuts down the role of middlemen, it has attracted a lot of interest from persons who are desperately looking to address shortage of blood in hospitals,” he said.

Local campaign

Mr. Shareef, a design engineer in a software firm in Hyderabad, said that while the technology, guidance and support is being provided from Hyderabad, the vital work of raising awareness about the initiative will be taken up by local contacts.

The website was launched in 2005 by five software professionals including Sk. Shareef, E. Naveen, S. Koteswara Rao, Phani Kethamakka and M. Murali Krishna.