Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, District 3350, has adopted the French Rotary blood drive logo and motto My Blood for Others (Mon Sang Pour Les Autres, MSPLA), the name of the national Rotary blood donation campaign that now includes more than 50 towns and cities in France.
The inspiration to adopt the French Rotary blood challenge is a result of a visit to the club by the French cyclist Julien Leblay, a former Rotaractor, and his wife, Marion, who are touring the world on their bikes to promote voluntary blood donation – and are visiting Rotary clubs along their way.
Their current tour started in France in July 2010. The Phnom Penh RC, one of two Rotary clubs in the Cambodian capital, organized its first blood drive in May in cooperation with National Blood Transfusion Center.
"Our club's management capacity is still relatively modest, and somewhat under dimensioned with regard to the extent of community needs on the one hand, and the number of ongoing partnerships with international clubs. As a result, any new program requires careful consideration. I have good hope that the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh will increase activities in support of the blood donor community," Dr. Eric Mousset, 2010-11 President of the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, says.