BLOOD GROUP

The AWA keeps a list of members willing to donate blood. The list is made available to any members looking for a blood donor. Prospective recipients are expected to call potential donors and arrange on their own for any testing.

When you become a member, you are given the option to sign up for the blood list. If you are a newcomer to the AWA and agreed to be a blood donor on your membership form, but did not write down your blood type, you are not on the donor list. Please contact the Website Administrator with your blood type. This is a very important service provided for emergency situations. The gift of your blood is a precious thing to someone in need.

Click HERE for Donor Form

Blood – It’s in You to Give!

It was about noon when my phone rang; it was Rani, asking me to contact JoAnn, the ‘keeper’ of our blood donor list.  Guy, the husband of Katie Maughfling (our former playgroup co-ordinator) had been in a very bad accident that morning, and needed blood urgently.  When JoAnn and I went through the list of donors, we discovered that the resource was woefully out of date.  There were a couple of people whose names we recognized and when contacted, went immediately to the hospital to assist.  What to do next?  How could we get more donors?

Fortunately, I was working at home that day, so I started going through my contact base in my cell phone and sms’ing everyone inNairobi.  The networking wheel started to roll and those whom I called, contacted others, and so it went.  Sonu contacted all of the radio stations and the religious organizations within the Asian community.  We posted it on our website.  However, it was not by any great design, but rather more by luck that we were successful in getting more than enough donors.

When I first moved here, I didn’t understand how the blood donation system here worked.  In Vancouver, where I am from, the Red Cross runs the blood bank, and then hospitals draw upon it.  So, that if a loved one is in an accident and needs blood, the hospital takes care of it.  That is not how it works here!  So, for those of you who may not have been aware of it, it is of critical importance to be able to access a donor list in times of emergency.

JoAnn Wood has volunteered to continue to maintain the donor list for AWA.  In order for all of us to have a resource that is there when we need it, please complete a form at one of our upcoming coffee mornings or general meetings.  Or, download it off our website.   Even if you have completed one this past year, please fill out a new form and submit it to her, as there is additional info on the newest version of the form.   We sincerely hope that you will never have to call upon the resource, but if you should, it will be current, and people can be quickly mobilized to help.

Thank you.

Barbara Petty

BOOK GROUP

This is not an AWA group, but might be of interest to members...

The AWA Playgroup meets once a week on a Thursday from 10 to 12 am. This is an opportunity for mums, ayahs and small children, ranging from newborns to about 4 years, in Nairobi to interact and socialize with each other. The venue is rotated as members of the playgroup take turns to host it at their respective homes.

It is a very good opportunity to exchange ideas about child raising, discuss problems, share experiences of parenthood and to get to know a very diverse group of people in Nairobi over a cup of tea or coffee.

It is also a great way to learn about Nairobi itself, where things are and what is happening. The children have an opportunity to meet other children, play with toys different from their own and the ayahs enjoy a social morning as well. Although playgroup members do not have to be members of the AWA, we do encourage them to join.

The AWA Christmas Crafts Group meets once a week on Mondays at 10 a.m. Jean's House. This group uses a wide range of mostly donated materials to create items that are sold at the annual AWA Christmas Crafts Fair where the proceeds go towards funding the AWA projects.

There is no requirement of artistic talent or experience with crafts. Anyone is welcome. The Coordinator identifies projects and supervises the work and ensures that there is something to do for each level of creativity.

We work with any type of fabric or medium and consider any idea that we think will sell well and is fun and practical to make. We meet at the same venue each week, as all the materials are stored in a central place. Although the focus is generally on creating Christmas crafts and decorations, we make anything that can be sold as presents - for Christmas or any other celebration.

It is a fun opportunity to meet other people over a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake, while making something beautiful and rewarding that will earn money for AWA projects.

THE CRAFT COMMITTEE
Rani, Carma and Jean