The Saving Lifes Changing Lives Project which was implemented by Turkish Red Crescent Society Eskişehir Branch in partnership with Portuguese counterpart Saude Em Portuguese, was presented in Eurodesk Network Meeting held in Varna at the end of September. The Saving Lifes Changing Lives’ Project, which caught the interest of Eurodesk Turkey, was promoted in the Best Practise Picthes of the conference held twice a year on a platform where 34 countries take part.
The project that aimed to raise awareness of blood donation and the donation amount among young people and to sustain the blood donation, has brought entertainment and technology factors into effect for this purpose.
The project which was completed in 14 months created an enriched virtual reality simulation (3D) and transformed it into a game. The game is played with special glasses and young people study the human body by going through the veins. They can see the red blood cells and fight against viruses and they witness the change in the body after the blood donation process. They heal the lesions in the veins by racking up points. In this way, they testify to the importance of blood donation in a totally different environment by doing this with the help of a fun game. According to a questionnaire run before and after the campaign that the project has created to increase the blood donation, a 52% increase was measured in blood donation among young people. Both the technology usage and the significant increase of blood donation among young people have formed a contributing factor for the project to be promoted in Eurodesk Network Conference.
About Eurodesk:
Eurodesk was founded in 1990 as an international non-profit association. Eurodesk, which carries out its work as a support organization for Erasmus + Program, is the most comprehensive and accesible resource providing free information for youth besides information on international mobility and learning.
Eurodesk is located in 34 countries. In these countries, Eurodesk headquarters help contact points which are their stakeholders to carry out the Eurodesk mission of ‘’raising awareness of the opportunities for learning among young people and encouring them to become active citizens’’. For more information please visit: https://www.eurodesk.eu
About Eurodesk Turkey:
The Eurodesk Information Network that operates in 34 European countries has been active in Turkey under the scope of Turkish National Agency since 2010. Eurodesk Turkey works with country-wide accredited contacts. Eurodesk Turkey Contact Points are the orgazinations authorized by the Republic of Turkey Ministry for EU Affairs, Center for European Union Education and Youth Programme (National Agency) to provide information on European Opportunities for the young and for those who offer services for them.
You can contact with Eurodesk Turkey Unit (eurodesktr@ua.gov.tr) directly or you can hold face-to-face meetings with the nearest contact point (http://eurodesk.ua.gov.tr/temas-noktalari.aspx).