St Francis College is celebrating a 20-year anniversary of ‘partnership’ with the South African National Blood Services (SANBS) this year. For the past Two Decades the school has maintained its agreement to use its facility as one of the centres where the SANBS comes for blood donation on regular basis.
St Francis College has given us more blood pints than what we get from other places. We hope to continue this great relationship with the school, said Mr Khwela, a SANBS Official, adding that “we also thank the school children’s participation in helping us in the task of saving lives”.
According to Ms Mdluli, the Coordinator of the Blood donation drive at the school said that for the past twenty years the school has established a positive working relationship with the SANBS. “The SANBS on a regular basis, once a term, come to our school for the blood drive donation”, adding that our learners are always excited and ready to donate blood, thus saving lives.
It is the duty of the peer promoters to bring awareness of donating blood to learners and staff alike, mainly during the school assembly. “They also go to every class to encourage and educate learners about the importance of donating blood”, said Ms Mdluli. She further explained that a blood donor must be or above 16 years; weigh 50kg or more; be healthy on the day of donation; and eat at least four hours before blood donation.
Meanwhile, Xolani Mazibuko, a Grade 12 learner and peer promoter at the school, said that it was important for young people to learn to save lives at an early age by donating blood. “I encourage learners not just in my school but in all the schools across South Africa to make a difference”, said Mazibuko. On a similar note, Amanda Ndokweni, also a Grade 12 learner, highlighted that she began donating blood while she was in grade 10 and she has never looked back since then. “I donate blood because of the newspaper article I read about a number of people who died from lack of blood after a terrible accident”, she said. Donating blood has made me feel good about myself and honoured to save life, she concluded.
