2 May 2023
Maritzburg College welcomed the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) to the Victoria Hall on Wednesday, 26 April, just before schools closed for the long weekend.
College hosts SANBS blood drives each term, and school blood drives play a vital role in allowing the organisation to meet the countrywide demand for blood products.
Khulekani Zuma, a Public Relations Practitioner from the SANBS, who was overseeing the event, told Pinnacle Schools: “To be honest, the schools are our biggest sources of blood donations. I would say about 80 percent of the blood that we collect comes from schools. For example, here at Maritzburg College we collect a maximum of 115 donations. Without schools, we would be really struggling.”
The Maritzburg College First Aid Society organises the termly donor events. Head of the Society, Ammaar Khan, said he and his society’s members share one primary message with potential donors: “We tell them that each time they come to a blood bank they save three people’s lives. That’s a good cause.
“Also, they like missing lessons,” he said, with a smile.
Blood donor clinics may cause a little disruption to the school day, but what is more important than the opportunity to save up to three lives?
The Blood Service’s Khulekani Zuma said: “We go to the schools. We don’t make them come to us. We always try, by all means, not to interrupt their academics.
“We arrange with the teachers at the school that we call them grade by grade, so that we don’t call everybody at one time. Time is important for the schools, as well.”
Khan said College’s donations are regularly in triple figures, but they vary a little during the course of the year. He explained: “We average about 100 to 115 donations every time. After June, in the third term, many grade 10s have turned 16 by then, so we have more. Then, matric boys get ready for [final] exams. But the grade 10s donate more than the matrics.” On Wednesday, 102 units of blood were collected.
Overcoming fears
Sometimes potential donors have to have their fears of needles allayed. Truth be told, the thought is far worse than the reality.
“If they have done the prick to test for iron, it is far worse than the needle. They’ll be fine,” Khan said. “We tell them that there is nothing to worry about. We’ll be there for them and talk them through it. Just don’t look at the needle, and you don’t really feel it.”
Zuma urged boys who donate to make sure they continue to do so after their school days are done. “We always try to catch up the blood stock but, because of the demand, the supply is not as big as we would like it to be. Just over one percent of people donate blood in South Africa, so the demand is high,” he said.
“After school, some kids are ‘missing’ once they’ve finished matric, and maybe they’ve changed provinces. Now we try to track them after their last term of matric, so we can find out where they are going and transfer them, so that they can continue to donate.”
First Aid Society
Besides organising the blood donor clinics, the Maritzburg College First Aid Society is also a crucial contributor to College’s many sporting events. In April, 23 boys, plus staff members, Mrs Brunzlaff and Mr Taljaard, attended a first aid course provided by Projects Safety.
There, they undertook theoretical and practical training and, having successfully completed the course, they will soon receive their First Aid certificates. The boys will next shadow already qualified First Aid Society members at forthcoming sports events.
Now, close to 50 Maritzburg College boys have successfully completed First Aid courses. Consider what that means: beyond their school days, they will take with them knowledge which, like the blood donors, will give them the ability to save lives.
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