Faisal Anwar is the young, motivated marketing director of an e-solutions provider company called eTaleem. com Brimming with excitement, faisal tells SPIDER how eTaleem launched a one of its kind online blood donor service.

Q. What was the Idea behind the creation of eTaleem's online blood donor service?
A. eTaleem had always wanted to do something for the country, and this is just one way of doing it. According to a research report, around 7 to 8 million here in Pakistan are in dire need of blood transfusion. So you can just imagine our consternation. And that is when we decided to do something about it.

Q. How did It all come together?
A. It was not easy at all.The market gave us a really hard time. You see in a way everything was against us. Corporate personnel were not ready to listen to us, as they thought we were too young and therefore too inexperienced to do business with. And as people here are usually not Internet-oriented, they were quite apprehensive about the while Idea of an online service. This attitude is not only bad for motivated, genuine individuals who want to do something, but is bad for the industry as well.

Q. What kind of attitude exactly?
A. Well, we literally went door to door, telling people who we were and what we wanted to do. I personally went to big pharmaceutical companies and gave them a presentation about eTaleem and what we wanted to do in terms of the blood donor service. And do you know what they asked us, how they could benefit from this service. Most of the people we went to said they did not consider online services as business. In short, everyone discouraged us. During that time, I met a really nice guy, Kamran Sani of Ava, and it was Ava that gave us all out support and I am really thankful to them for believing in us. .

Q. What about the media? Did they help In anyway?
A. Well, I am afraid not as much as it should have. You see our media suppresses us for one reason or the olher. The Pakistani mentality is not to encourage new ideas but the exact opposite. If you are making money, thousands of people would be after you and if you are talking about ideas, they are there only to discourage you.But we are still fighting.

Q. What about the government or the NGOs?
A. Well, we did not ask the government simply because we already knew that the process would take too long and every minute counts here at eTaleem. Time is really important and approached by the NGOs.

Q. Tell me more about the blood donor service? Who is your target audience and how can you help people through this service?
A. We don't really have a specific audience.This service is for anyone and everyone looking for information and help. Just try to understand this concept... when a patient needs blood, all he or his family has to do is go online, and browse on our Website.They will be able to find a donor, living in the same neighborhood.

Q. Have you contacted any hospitals or blood banks in this regard or vice versa?
A. I have given seminars at varous hospitals, for instance at Jinnah Hospital. It is essential that our doctors have Web-based orientation. We had Talked to around 200 doctors in this regard And to answer your question specifically, yes we have been contacted by hospitals and that is a very good sign.

Q. How do you get your Information In terms of blood-related diseases and so forth?
A. Well, we have a doctor with us who deals with such issues, then there are the press releases from various organizations, and the Internet of course. But basically, it is all our efforts. For instance for our education section, we send teams to various localities and they gather information about any new institution or school that is being established. They submit their report and the info is then included into our database. In this way. not only is the information up-to-date, but it is also authentic. Coming back to the donor service, what we are more concerned is providing our audience with a proper, state-of-the-art database, so that the people can really benefit from it.

Q. During your interaction with doctors, how can you tell between the hacks and the genuine?
A. We consider this a very important issue for eTaleem. We don't accept doctors, who do not have a license.

Q. Is it the same with blood donor service? Do you screen the blood donors?
A. We are trying to make the right donor meet the right patient and that is done by creating a massive database. We do not screen the donors because we have taken up the job of providing a database only.

Q. So you don't take any responsibility?
A. No, not at all, because as I have said earlier we are only concerned with creating a database.

Q. Are you providing any services like 'message boards' or forums,' so that the people can talk about their problems too?
A. There are a number of ideas we are working on, but it takes time and everything simply can't be done in a single day.

Q. What kind of response have you gotten so far?
A. We have received emails from all around the world and all of them were positive.

Q. Will you be collaborating with International companies?
A. We have been approached by various US companies, a bank in Bahrain, as well as by an Indian company. Unfortunately, we cannot do business with Indians due to the prevalent political reasons.

Q. What's next for the online blood service?
A. Next on agenda is putting up camps in Karachi, first at Zamzama and then at Gulshan. We are planning set-up a computer there with donor registration forms. The donor will register him or herself and get his/her blood tested as well. We are also planning to invite some celebrities, to make the atmosphere more fun-oriented. Our long-term plan includes organizing seminars throughout the country.