Young volunteers walk from Embu to Nairobi to promote regular blood donation



Young volunteers arrive at Embu Regional Blood Transfusion Centre on Monday June 4, 2018 after walking all the way from Nyeri in a bid to create awareness on the need for people to donate blood. 
A group of young volunteers on Monday started a walk from Embu town to Mombasa City in a bid to promote regular blood donations by Kenyans, to bridge shortages at the blood banks.
The members of Pledge25 Association are expected to arrive to Nairobi this Friday where they will hand over to another team to walk to Mombasa to create awareness on the need for people to donate blood ahead of World Blood Donor Day on Thursday next.
Kenya needs to collect 400,000 pints of blood annually to have adequate reserves in blood banks, but last year managed to collect only 150,000, according to National Blood Transfusion Centre official Joseph Kamotho.
“If one percent of all Kenyans donated blood, we would attain our target. Many eligible Kenyans do not donate. This year we target to collect 180,000 units. With that no Kenyan who needs emergency blood transfusion would lack it,” said Kamotho.
Speaking when he flagged off the Pledge25 walk in Embu town, Kamotho, who is also the National Blood Recruiter, urged adults to donate blood regularly, pointing out that the blood bank collects 80 percent of all blood from students.

National blood recruiter Joseph Kamotho flags off the “fill a pint” walk 
“We are working to mobilise Kenyans to know and appreciate the importance of blood donation, so that blood is already stocked for patients needing blood transfusion, rather than them waiting for a donor,” he said.
Pledge25 volunteers have already held similar walks in Kisumu, Eldoret and from Nyeri to Embu town to promote blood donation and positive and risk free healthy lifestyles among youths.
Jane Wairimu, an official of Pledge25, urged Kenyans especially those aged between 18 and 35 years to donate blood regularly, twice per year, for the country to attain the required blood in blood banks.
“In case of accidents or when mothers are giving birth, there is no time to call for relatives to come and donate blood,” she noted.
Wairimu revealed that people who are reluctant to donate blood cite that they do not have enough, advising that only a medic can ascertain so.
She added that people between 18 and 65 years who weight at least 50kgs are eligible to donate.
Polly Kendi, who walked from Nyeri to Embu in three days, said they encountered showers of rain and sometimes scorching sun, but their efforts paid off as along the way they convinced people to donate blood regularly.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EDUCATION

Image
County disburses Sh103 million bursaries as 10,000 applicants unsuccessful BY JOEY KIMEU More than 10,000 applicants for the Sh103 million Embu County Government bursaries were unsuccessful. Even though that was the county’s highest allocation issued in a single financial year, the applications were many and they considered the neediest cases, according to the fund manager Jeremiah Ireri. Ireri revealed that out of the 35,000 applicants only 23,400 were awarded the bursaries that would help pay their school or college fees. Secondary schools took the lion share amounting to Sh58 million while the rest was shared among special schools, vocational training centres, universities and colleges. Speaking during the bursary launch at St Benedict Kithimu Secondary School, Ireri who is county acting Education chief officer called on MCAs to consider increasing the bursary kitty so that as many applicants benefit. Education CEC John Kiamati who was the chief guest said the...
Read more
Image
Mundigi donates uniform for Sunday school children, preaches unity BY CANDLE NEWS KENYA Former Embu Senatorial aspirant Alexander Mundigi last Sunday donated uniforms to ACK All Saints Njarange Church Sunday school’s dancing troupe. He had made the promise during Embu Speaker Josiah Thiriku’s homecoming party a year ago. Rev Joseph Fundi received the 60 uniforms and blessed Mundigi for the contribution. Mundigi advised Embu Governor Martin Wambora and local ward representatives to drop their current hard stances and reconcile for the sake of the county’s growth. The Governor and the County Assembly have been engaged in a standoff that paralysed revenue collection last month after MCAs passed a motion to stop charging of county levies to protest against Wambora’s appointment of two chief officers. However, Wambora obtained a court injunction that enabled resumption of revenue collection, and on Jamhuri Day publicly reprimanded MCAs for “interfering...
Read more
Image
Imposing Mbeere ACK Cathedral enriches beauty of Siakago town BY WHITNEY NYAWIRA The newly constructed ACK Diocese of Mbeere, St Peter’s Cathedral has not only solved sitting space challenges but also enriched the beauty of Siakago town. The imposing 3,000 sitting capacity Cathedral is an architectural marvel while its finishing oozes finesse and splendor. The building that served as the Cathedral before it had a sitting capacity of only 300 and could hardly accommodate Diocesan services, according to church documents. The new ultramodern Cathedral took five years to complete at a cost of Sh55 million financed through generous giving by Christians and friends of the church. Thousands of Christians turned up for the historic opening, dedication and consecration of the Cathedral on Sunday. All the church’s parishes convened at the Cathedral. The service led by ACK Archbishop Rev Jackson Ole Sapit assisted by Diocese of Mbeere Bishop Rev Moses Masamba and graced by Deput...
Read more