The Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, District 3350, is seeking to engage hotels, universities, government, NGO offices, companies, garment factories, embassies, etc. in the Cambodian capital in voluntary donation of blood. The first such drive was held October 22, 2011, at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, an international 5-star hotel, targetting its employees and management in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the National Blood Transfusion Center. Under the slogan My Blood for Others, the drive secured blood from 67 donors.
“We have laid the groundwork for a regular voluntary blood donation drive for the hotel, incorporating it as one of the important duties of the hotel nurse,” Dr. Fil B. Tabayoyong, Jr., member of the club’s Community Service Committee, tells GNBD.
At the hotel Sofitel, the hotel’s nurse has committed herself to organize blood drives on a regular basis among its personel.
“We will now move to motivate other hotel establishments, schools and universities, business firms, etc. in Phnom Penh. We now have a successful model from Sofitel Phnom Penh Hotel for our service project,” Dr. Fil says.
The blood drive at the hotel Sofitel came about under the auspices of the hotel's Resident Manager, Frederik Deman, a Rotarian from Romania.
A few days before the blood drive, Hotel Sofitel had scheduled a general information meeting for employees and management in the hotel's Grand Ball Room regarding the procedures involved in blood donation.
“I was given the opportunity to present to the employees and management the RC of Phnom Penh's community service project of voluntary blood donation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Global Network for Blood Donation, a Rotarian Action Group under Rotary International”, Dr. Fil reports from the event.
Attended by a couple of hundred hotel personel and management, Dr. Hok Kimcheng, Director of the National Blood Transfusion Center, held a briefing regarding blood donation and answered questions from the audience.
Afterwards, the attendees could witness a live presentation of blood donation, when the hotel’s Resident Manager, Frederik Deman, and Corporate Training Manager, Myo Than, volunteered to donate blood in order to show “how safe and properly managed the extraction of blood from a voluntary donor was carried out.”
The blood drive on October 22 surpassed the goal of 50 donations by 17 donors, Dr. Fil B. Tabayoyong, Jr. reports.
The blood drive was fully covered by the Cambodian media.
The Rotary Club of Phnom Penh hopes to interest Rotarians in other countries in “supporting some valuable projects” leading to the construction of a modern National Blood Transfusion Center in Phnom Penh, which the government plans to build, Dr. Fil B. Tabayoyong, Jr. says. The Ministry of Heath has already allocated a piece of land for the project.
It was the second time the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh had organized a blood drive. The first event, held in June 2011 at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, was attended by more than a thousand people, mostly university students, committed to non-remunerated blood donation.
According to the Cambodian National Blood Transfusion Center, blood collection increased by around 120 per cent between June and October of this year compared to the same months of last year.
“This gives us more vigor and enthusiasm to continue”, Dr. Fil declares.
Recognizing Sofitel’s “corporate social responsibility”, the hotel's Resident Manager, Frederik Deman, supports one of the Cambodian government’s priority programs, namely voluntary blood donation in order to save lives, Dr. Fil B. Tabayoyong, Jr., says.
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, Cambodia has adopted the French Rotary blood drive logo and motto My Blood for Others (Mon Sang Pour Les Autres) - the name of the national French Rotary blood donation campaign that now includes more than 50 cities in France.
Past District Governor Jean-Claude Brocart (District 1700/ RC Toulouse-Ovalie) founder of My Blood for Others in France and now its international co-ordinator, says in a mail to the Rotary Club of Phnom Penh: “I am very pleased to learn about your blood drives in Phnom Penh. You will save lives … applying Rotary International's motto Service Above Self. Congratulations to all people involved in this good job.”
The blood donation program of The Rotary Club of Phnom Penh is administrated by the club’s Community Service Committee under the chairmanship of Peter Gray and current club president Bruce Haulley. The club is one of two Rotary clubs in the Cambodian capital and has about 20 members.
CONTACTS:
Dr. Fil B. Tabayoyong, Jr.
Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, Distict 3350, Cambodia
E-mail: docfil@yahoo.com
Jean-Claude Brocart
Past District Governor
International Coordinator My Blood For Others
Rotary Club Toulouse-Ovalie, District 1700, France
E-mail: jc.brocart@gmail.com
See Photos from the blood drive under "Blood Drive in Cambodia" at GNBD Pictures.