I have decided to donate blood on my birthday (September 7th) this year, and I want you to join me! But before you do, perhaps you should know why I am doing this. Some others too have wondered why, or how they can join, so I think this article is apt right now.
Throwback to 2010
As students back in Cyprus, we used to pay $60 a year for health insurance. This insurance covered many things including certain operations, treatments and so on, in government hospitals. Being that we were graduating in 2010, I and a friend (and roommate) decided we had not benefited enough from our insurance money lol.
So I had a corrective operation (deviated septum) done, while my roommate had a different operation. But due to the condition he was being operated for, he didn’t have enough blood for the operation.
He needed more blood in his system, before the doctors could operate on him. Being a universal donor, I was one of the two people who donated blood for him. It was after that point that I realized the benefits of donating blood, besides knowing that I was doing some good for a friend (and in the world).
After that time, I decided that I would try to donate blood more often. I even started playing with the idea of donating blood regularly, for myself. That way, if I ever needed blood in the future (God forbid) I won’t be lacking.
Forward to 2016
At the start of the year, I published my goals for the year 2016 (click here to view). The list is made up of all kinds of things, including random acts of kindness. I don’t recall where I got the list of acts of kindness from (there were 2 sources), but on one list was to donate blood.
Every once in a while, I review the list to see which item I can cross of my goals for the year. So donating blood has been on my list since I made my list of goals for 2016. I have just been looking for a time and/or an opportunity.
Then in August 2016…
Sometime in August, I saw a video that someone made on his birthday. In the video, he urged people to do some good in the world, inspired by the song “We are the world”. He asked people to go out, and do some good, because everyone is fighting a battle.
I liked the idea more than the video itself, and as I like to copy good things, I started to think of how I could do something similar (not the video, of course). And then shortly after seeing that video, I had a glance at my list for the year again, and it hit me!
I could just donate blood!
So that’s it! I could donate blood on my birthday, and get others to join me in this cause. So immediately, I created an event on Facebook (click here to view) but I didn’t publish it until recently.
Since I published the event, some people have indicated interest, while some indicated that they could not partake. The others are in the “maybe” zone, and some said so because they were not sure how to go about it.
Then I tried to help those who were interested but didn’t know how, by providing a link to the offices of the National Blood Transfusion Centers in Nigeria (NBTC).
I decided to use these guys because some years back when I visited Nigeria, I saved their number during one of their campaigns on radio. I called up the number and they gave me directions to their office. I figured this would be a good place for people to start from. If not there, then they can locate a teaching hospital in their area.
Then I read about a guy who hold the current record (according to NBTC) of highest blood donation, donating a total of 31 times wince 2005. That also inspired me more… I want to beat that guy!
When I gave blood in 2010, I felt really fine afterwards. I was not lightheaded or drowsy. That meant I could give blood soon again. And during my recent research, I learned that I could give blood as often as 6 to 12 times in a year, depending on what kind of donor I am.
I intend to find out how often I can give blood, and see how much I can give in a year.
Interested?
So if you’re interested in doing some good in the world, or doing an act of random kindness… please join US in giving some blood on my birthday (7th of September), in your city. You can participate from any location in the world, as long as you can find a center to donate some blood this week (preferable on Wednesday 7th) and I will be glad!
Please also visit my event’s page on Facebook, and invite friends who you think might be interested. www.facebook.com/events/274288466272888/