Another Blood Donation Benefit “Be a Donor!” was held at Kyiv Islamic Cultural Centre on Friday, September 11. It’s already been the fourth such “donor day” at the ICC. Kyiv City Blood Centre provided for Mobile Medical team to visit the ICC according to the schedule and do the whole procedure in-situ; the Muslims on their part prepared the room for blood donation.
Ms.Tetyana Evloeva, the benefit initiator, managed to close the ranks of like-minded people, and with their help created blood donation related pictures and videos she posted on YouTube and Social Media, explaining the importance of donating blood and calling upon everyone to join the benefit. About a hundred people volunteered to donate their blood, and it’s remarkable that both Muslims and non-Muslims were among them.
Followers of Islam (Ismail, for instance) heard the call to becoming a donor on a preaching the previous Friday. “To go or not to go” wasn’t really the question, for, according to Ismail, “sharing with others in encouraged by Islam, and is instilled in every Muslim by both the parents and Muslim communities.”
— I’ve already donated my blood once — Muhammad from Libya says. — I learned about this benefit during the khutbah last Friday and I’m happy to share my blood for the sake of Allah!
— I’ve never donated my blood before, — Mariam, a young Muslimah, says. —When I learned about the benefit, I decided to join it, for I have a strong wish to help someone who needs it badly, and we, if we are healthy enough for that, have to help the other people. Moreover, the current situation in the country is terrible, military action is going on. My relatives stayed in Donetsk, and I know how hard it is.
Igor Klepar, a Christian man, learned about the benefit on Facebook. It’s notable that he already participated in Kyiv Muslims’ blood donation benefits earlier, as well as donated his blood on other occasions.
— I’m a blood donor; my father was a USSR Honored Donor, so I learned all about the blood donation since a very early age. It’s both necessary and useful, and it’s a mission of every responsible person, both as human being and citizen, — Igor said. — I read Shaikh Said Ismagilov’s post on Facebook recently, a very emotional one. It was obvious that Said was just boiling over. He asked in the post, how come that satellites reach planets “in a galaxy far, far away”, and we can’t help children dying here on Earth? It’s the matter of priorities. So I believe such benefits are extremely important, that we need to spread information about blood donation as much as we can, to inform people what it’s all about.
It’s not only about the act of donation itself, Mr.Klepar thinks:
— It happened so that the whole nation as been is a kind of “spiritual anabiosis”, and started waking up over the past two years, people started doing something about it. There is less filth in our souls now, but many foam gathered at the surface as well. So donating blood is not only an important sphere in our life, but a chance to purify one's soul. You know, we’ve donated quite a lot of blood during Maydan; the latest events give a more thorough understanding of the importance of blood donation. I want to call upon every person to be a donor, to donate blood whenever and wherever you can: in such benefits as this one, at hospitals, at children’s care centres, etc. — there’s a high demand for donor blood there!
— I came to donate my blood, and this is my support team, — Ms.Elena Voronetskaya laughs, pointing at her friend. — I’ve signed up for “Ba A Donor!” Facebook page, and decided to come when I saw that they’re having a benefit on September 11. “Why not?” — I thought, — “I could pour out some of my blood for somebody else.”
— This is my decision. I myself had a situation where I was taken to the hospital by the ambulance, and I needed blood transfusion. I got away with that on that occasion, but I’ve started thinking “What if someone needs blood urgently and there’s none?” since then, — a young woman says.
Bare wish of becoming a donor, however, isn’t enough. The act of donation must do no harm both to donor and (moreover) the recipient, so the usual medical conditions are fulfilled at the ICC. The donor-to-be was carefully examined by the doctors first (primary examination, blood pressure, questionnaire, blood test), and only after that was done, a verdict whether one could or couldn’t become a donor, was given.
Unfortunately, not everyone was eligible to donate: some were temporarily rejected for different reasons, such as cold because of a sudden nip, some got vaccinated or got medical treatment, two women were too feeble, so they were sent to gain the lack of kilograms to reach the minimum weight of 50 kg). In general, 35 people were allowed to donate blood.
They didn’t take the procedure at once, though: the ICC volunteers made sure that there were enough sweets and tea for everyone who is yet to donate, and sandwiches for those who already donated their blood. By the way, despite the fact that everyone donated their blood for free, the Blood Centre team paid each donor a small sum of money called “meal reimbursement”, for one should have a meal after the procedure is over. Well, most of the people prefered to donate this money as sadaqa for the following blood benefit.
Unpaid blood donation itself is a sadaqa, too, for a Muslim gave something he had for the sake of Allah, be it his time, money, efforts, friendly attitude, etc.
Every donor was presented with a cork coated for tea, with “Be A Donor” logo printed on it. As Ms.Tetyana Evloeva, the facilitator, wrote on the benefit’s Facebook page, “so that you, our dear donors, will be warmed up in this cold weather not only be tea, coffee or cocoa, but also by memories of doing something good. You are wonderful, thank you!”
Overall, medical officers from Kyiv City Blood Centre left with 16 litres of precious liquid which in many cases is the “aqua vitae”, literally bringing the doomed people back to life.
