By Peter Bishop. The Rotary club of Nithi, a wing of Rotary international, in association with the Kenya Red Cross and The Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service pitched tent at Chuka University this week for a two day blood donation drive. The activity took place on 17th and the 18th of November at the university grounds where students and the public at large participated and were encouraged to normalize donating blood. Speaking on behalf of the Rotary club of Nithi, Timothy Mutani said that blood was very important in cases of accidents and blood related diseases. Mutani said that not everyone, if there’s anyone at all, had the private capability to store donated blood hence the need to donate to the right organisation. He further added that their decision to bring the drive to Chuka University was attributed to its central position plus accessibility and that the university’s vast population of the required ages for one to be a donor was a major decision factor. “We decided to bring the drive here since this is more of a catchment area and it has the energetic and required age bracket of people who are better posed to donate blood. Also, the University is very accessible for many, including people in and around Chuka town. We continue to urge people in Tharaka and the neighbouring counties to donate blood and take part in the drive in order to help those in dire need of it in our hospitals", he said. Giving examples of the recent accident in Embu where many people lost blood, and the persistent blood problem in maternity wards, Moses Nyaga, the official in charge of the exercise and a representative of the National Blood Transfusion Service Tharaka Nithi county, insisted that donation of blood is very important since there is a significant shortage of blood. While echoing Mutani's words, Moses insisted on the short life span of donated blood. “Blood has a very short shelf life hence we ask everyone to take part in the exercise and give us a hand in saving lives since we have many people in need of blood not only in our county but the entire country. We urge everyone to donate blood every now and then and not only once in order to save a life", he said. When asked about the success of the drive, Nyaga said that the exercise was relatively a success since they had already got 34 pints of blood and they were expecting 50 more. “So far we have managed to get around thirty four pints but we have a high expectation of getting fifty more come the second and final day. We continue to urge people to come out and donate blood and help their fellow Kenyans”, Nyaga said. With the theme "Give blood, keep the world beating", the drive takes part every two years to encourage Kenyans to donate their blood and help those in need of it. The two day exercise that took place at the University’s main campus gate G came to a shelve on Thursday, 18th of November.
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