Saving a life... or 3.

One of our biggest driving forces at the Honeycomb Hub is to do what we can for the community. It is why the majority of our employees are young Downs adults, why we offer free tea and coffee to everyone who comes in and why we are always looking at different ways we can help different groups. Even before we opened, hosting a blood drive was high on our list of things we could do that would make a huge difference.

Currently the National Blood Donation Centre has a 50% shortfall in their annual collection needs, it is a matter of urgency that as many people as possible regularly give blood and we were determined to offer another place for people to do it.

Once we had our date, we advertised on facebook, sent out messages and emails and did all that we could to ensure as high an attendance as possible. However, there was one thing we couldn’t plan for … the weather. The week of our blood drive it rained. For those of you not living in Botswana, people here love the rain in the sense that we don’t get very much of it and so it is a wonderful thing – rain in Setswana is Pula which means blessing. However, because we don’t get that much of it, people don’t want to go out in it when it does come. We anticipated a much reduced turnout.

Phillida checking she is able to donate

By just before 10am the 3 beds were set up and our first donors (Phillida and I) had passed all the questions, had blood pressure checked and were ready to give blood. Just for a little back story – I am not good with blood. In fact, that is a slight understatement. I have had to walk out of a first aid training for a breath of fresh air because they were talking about blood. My son fell off a bike putting his tooth through his lip and it was my husband who had to cuddle and comfort him then at the hospital it was me the Doctor asked to lay down on the bed while my son stoically sat in the chair! When my Father recently had an accident falling from a ladder, I was flat on the floor and the only thing I just about managed to do was phone for an ambulance – thankfully my sister is much more controlled than I am (she is our active first aider) and has no problem with even the bloodiest of situations.

The awesome Lilian, who not only

came herself but invited many

friends to join her too!

However, even with my rather strong dislike of blood, I am able to give blood. Because actually, you don’t have to see it if you don’t want to! I looked the other way and they covered the donation bag with a sheet of paper and it was absolutely fine. And, as I remind myself every time I get a wax, it is only a few minutes of doing something I really don’t like for a remarkable benefit. And we had a steady stream of willing volunteers all day – over 45 people braved the rain and came to see if they could donate. 

We are actually thinking of renaming it ‘catch up with long lost friends’ day because almost every single wonderful person that came through the door met someone they hadn’t seen in a long time. There was the best, most positive vibe in the place -as my sister said, it was festive. (For those of you who, like me, mistakenly

Perhaps you could donate

blood as your next date night?!

Our final donors - a

husband and wife team

thinking Festive only applies to Christmas, no no no! Out here, festive is any time that you are celebrating or partying …really any type of gathering with more than 3 people with a lot of chat, smiles and positive energy could be termed ‘festive’)

So why should we give blood if we can?

-there is a huge shortfall and if any of my loved ones needed a transfusion, I would like to know there would be blood there for them

-it doesn’t actually take that long, I think the actual process of taking my blood was less than 10 minutes (definitely shorter than a bikini wax!!)

-for the unselfishly selfish reason – bragging rights! You have done something awesome and each donation of blood can be used for up to 3 lives! 10 minutes, and I may have saved someone’s life – that is an incredible feeling!

-it is a great way to get a health check. Once they have collected your donation, they test it at the centre and in 2 weeks you can go in and check the results.

We got busy quickly!

All day, we had a steady stream of wonderful people coming to give blood and 22 of them were able to donate their blood and became our first Honeycomb Heroes. Unfortunately, many weren’t able to for a variety of reasons and so we have gone back to the NBDC for an improved checklist. Here are our top tips for giving blood:

Top Tips

-Eat well during the day and have a good meal within 4 hours of giving blood.

-Drink lots of water. It helps with the blood flow but also raises the blood pressure – we had a number of people unable to donate due to low blood pressure.

-If you smoke, please try to refrain for 2 hours before giving blood and 2 hours after.

-Ladies, you are not able to give blood if you are pregnant, breast feeding or menstruating (sorry gentleman, you can’t use these as your excuses!) However, if you were one of the heroes who gave blood last time, it is too soon for you to give blood this time.

-You must weigh over 50kg, aged between 16-65 years and in generally good health.

The smiles didn't stop

What we have learned

-That there are so many generous people out there who want to help others, but that the timings aren’t always ideal. For our next drive we have extended the hours and changed the day to a Saturday to try and accommodate as many of you as possible.

-That we need more beds and more staff! We had 3 beds and a team of 4 staff and it wasn’t enough!

What else could you do?

Edeline works at a nearby business and 

persuaded 3 of her colleagues to also

come and donate!

-the NBDC is open every week day. Why not see if you can arrange your next team bonding event at work to be a team visit to the NBCD for blood doning. A team that gives blood together …….there could easily be a great ending for your firm with that phrase. And, to be unselfishly selfish, what great advertising CBD that you can plaster all over your facebook page and newsletter showing how you are a company for the people. I even heard of one extremely kind individual who arranges a blood drive for her birthday each year – truly awesome.

Our next blood drive is Saturday, April 7^th from 10am-3pm and we would really love to see you there. If you are unable to make it or unable to give blood, please help us by sharing the event and persuading other friends to come.

A great opportunity to catch up 

with friends!

And finally, Happy Easter! I may have gone a little rogue on my theme for an Easter Sunday blog post but actually I think it is strangely appropriate!