This month, join Bloodworks Global Health Ambassador Susan Peck on an eye-opening journey through East Africa with the Bloodworks Center for Global Impact. Susan is a dedicated blood donor and a former Bloodworks Board of Trustees member—read her first travel log here.
I gave my 105th unit of blood today!
This one was especially memorable as it was in Eldoret, Kenya, rather than in my home of Seattle. As different as this facility and experience was, I couldn’t help but note how (much like Bloodworks) this blood collection site takes great pride in its safety protocols, collection procedures, and ability to distribute this life-saving product to people who need it.
I actually came to this particular site today with the Center for Global Impact to discuss Bloodpak — a method of emergency transfusion developed by Bloodworks. We came to get feedback from local experts who already work to provide safe and accessible blood for their communities, and explore how something like Bloodpak could help that system access the harder-to-reach places. The goal: No one, anywhere, dying from lack of blood.
Susan pictured with members of the Bloodworks Center for Global Impact and local Kenyan blood transfusion experts.
It was so interesting to participate on the preliminary level and make sense of how you dance with infrastructure and cultures that are not your own in order to reach a common goal. Everyone surrounding the table today had a stake in the efficacy, safety and accessibility of blood: the doctors, researchers, quality personnel, and blood donors.
After this meaningful and informative discussion, we were fortunate to donate blood through this local blood bank. I asked the gentleman next to me why he was giving blood.
“To save a life.”
Amen brother, that’s what we’re here to do to.
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