By McLloyd Kudzingo

They cannot be as famous as politicians, musicians or some prophets. They are people who do not have a name in the society. Some come from the very poor families or some in the remotest areas.  These are people who realize that even without money; they can still make a change in other people’s lives. These people are able to give out something more precious than gold. As we are closer to winding up the year 2021, I would like take this opportunity to talk about people who donate blood and others who work tirelessly in making sure that lives are saved. Today let’s discuss these three groups; the blood donors, Teachers and Community/Religious leaders

Blood Donors

Knowing that blood cannot be synthesized artificially, people like 28-year old Lawrence Masina are the only source of this life-saving product. Lawrence stays at Saiti Kadzuwa in Mangochi district. He says he started donating blood whilst in form one at Dzukani Private School in Ntaja in Machinga district. He has so far donated blood through Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS) for 53 times. He says he makes sure that he donates blood every 3 months in order to save people with conditions that require blood or blood products. Charles Masiye is another blood donor who says he enjoys donating blood as he helps in contributing to the common good and saving lives. Having donated blood 22 times, Charles who stays in Majiga 1 in Balaka district says since he started donating blood, he has never at any point thought of stopping doing this noble cause. Just like Lawrence and Charles, one woman from Monkey bay in Mangochi district cannot afford missing a blood donation session whenever she is due to donate. Having donated blood for 16 times, Emmie Kumbikano-Gumulira who is a universal blood donor, says to her, donating blood is one way of thanking God for the gift of life. These are just a few examples of people who have dedicated their lives in saving other people’s lives.  These are people who literally save and change other people’s lives. This is the reason I usually say that blood donors should always consider themselves as heroes and that the world needs more heroes like them.

Teachers

Most of the blood that MBTS collects comes from schools mainly secondary schools and some institutions of higher learning. Much as we appreciate that MBTS is mandated to collect blood from various schools, it takes the hearts of those in charge of the schools to allow the blood donation exercises to take place in their respective schools. This exercise happens in most schools across the country except for few schools that do not allow MBTS to conduct blood donation clinics due to their own reasons.

School Principals, Head teachers and other teachers play a very important role in making sure that the students are aware of the importance of donating blood. Steven Lingamawa is the head teacher at Kankao CDSS in Balaka district. To him blood donation is one of the most important exercises that happen every term at his school. He says he encourages his students to donate blood because he understands challenges that come about when hospitals run out of blood.

Another teacher who works tirelessly in mobilizing his students to donate blood is Raphael Makhole. Makhole is MBTS’s Blood donation patron at Mbombwe CDSS in Mangochi. A blood donor himself, Makhole says students should learn to embrace blood donation at a tender age so that it is planted in their hearts as they go through the educational ladder. Makhole’s sentiments are echoed by that of Njolomole CDSS’s Deputy Head Teacher Friday Nambala who states that his school is one of the best performing schools in as far as blood donation is concerned. He says the schools’ success in blood donation activities is attributed to additional sensitization of students by teachers in additional to motivational talks that MBTS conducts in schools. With all these efforts, one would appreciate that teachers play a very important role in making sure that blood is available in our hospitals. As we sing praises to our blood donors for their noble contribution, let’s also remember our teachers for the great role they play in ensuring that blood is collected in their respective schools.

Community & Religious Leaders

The subject of blood donation can be easily understood in schools. Taking the same message to the community can be a bit challenging. There are a lot of myths and religious believes surrounding blood donation especially in the remotest areas. A good number of students that I have interviewed revealed that they donate blood without the knowledge of their parents because they (parents) do not allow them to donate blood for various reasons. You can imagine taking the message to a parent who already planted it in his head that blood donation is evil or that blood is sold in hospitals. It can be very challenging to convince such parents to donate blood. Seeing the need to sensitize people in the communities on the importance of donating blood, MBTS works hand in hand with community leaders and volunteers to help disseminating the right information about blood donation to the masses. Sometimes, chiefs and volunteers are called names and sometimes receive insults as they are suspected to be pocketing money from MBTS for them to be mobilizing people. Most of them endure such insults and do not stop their work because they understand the importance of the message they disseminate. Chiefs, volunteers and religious leaders have been very supportive especially when schools are closed. They gather together people in their communities through various communication actions. Without fear they preach about the importance of blood donation and act as a link between MBTS and people in the communities. It is therefore important to highlight here also the importance of community leaders and volunteers’ presence during blood donation campaigns. This alone encourages people to donate blood voluntarily in order to strengthen their communities.

Conclusion

There are a lot of people who play a very significant role in making sure that blood is collected in various places in the country. Without these people MBTS’ blood donation drives could be of no meaning at all. As we are reminding people about the importance of blood donation this week, we should also remember to pray for the groups of people mentioned above and others not mentioned here as well as various stakeholders for the good work they do in making sure that hospitals in the country are supplied with safe and adequate blood.