In the novel, The Dragonfly Effect, Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith effectively tell the story of Sameer Bhatia to convey how technology helped to save his life. They tell the story of how Sameer, a man of health, optimism, and well-being, was diagnosed with a type of leukemia that starts in bone marrow. In the chapter, The Dragonfly Body, the authors tell how Sameer’s friends took the first steps to help him using technology. This same use of everyday technology can be of critical importance to our class in trying to help the St. John’s/St. Ann’s Outreach Center.
Sameer was in critical condition with his cancer and needed a certain type of bone marrow to help him. His bone marrow type was rare, and the odds of finding someone who could donate his specific type were extremely unlikely. On top of this unlikelihood, they had just a few short weeks to find the marrow in order to save him. However, despite the difficulties, Sameer’s friends wanted to help as best as they could, so they spread Sameer’s story through the internet. By creating a mass email and forwarding it to everyone they knew, they told Sameer’s story. They helped to spread the message through internet sites such as Facebook, You Tube, and Google Apps. In a matter of weeks, they were not only able to find someone with Sameer’s marrow type, but they were also able to help a man named Vinay, who was also in critical condition. Without the internet, these remarkable accomplishments would have been nearly impossible. The power of the internet was able to touch people around the world, urge them to help, and to save lives.
I did not understand our use of this passage until we visited the St. John’s/ St. Ann’s Outreach Center as a class. There, the volunteers told us about the dire need for food to feed many people throughout the Albany area. They explained how they have a recent surplus of people coming into their center, because neighboring centers are temporarily closed. They explained the shortage of produce they have because of the hurricane, and the amount of rain that ruined the crops in the area. On top of their struggles to make ends meet, their budget was cut in half in recent years. With a growing number of families coming in for three meals a day, the center’s grants should be increasing to help their community, not decreasing to make it difficult to feed them. The center’s struggles struck me as unfair, and it broke my heart to think that people were not doing more to help their community.
With Sameer’s story in The Dragonfly Effect in mind, our class could spread the need to help to Outreach Center through the internet. Like Sameer’s friends, we could make an email, Facebook group, and Twitter account to reach out to the resident in the local community, asking to help the Outreach Center. As stated in The Dragonfly Effect, the story must be specific and looking for action. Our class can make the email personal, by describing our experience at the Outreach Center. We can talk about personal experiences we have encountered with the people during the Writing Partnership program, or how we felt as we walked through the kitchen. We can state what we learned, how the people are in need of help, and the lack of funds the center receives. It is important to be informative to educate the audience so they understand the problem at hand. Lastly, we must be direct in the email, telling the audience exactly what we are looking to accomplish. It is a matter of requiring help, because their help could make the all of the difference to a starving family. Sameer’s story is an inspiration of how technology can be put to good use for the benefit of the community, and inside the classroom.
Through chapter one of The Dragonfly Effect, I believe that our class can help St. John’s/St. Ann’s Outreach Center. As Sameer’s friends used the power of the internet to save their friend’s life, our class can use our technology to provide social change. By using Facebook, and other forms of social media, we can spread the message of the Outreach Center to acquire help from people in the community. Each one of us uses the internet every day, so why not put it into good use?
