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Be a hero and donate blood

12 October 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Unsplash

blood donation — Bring your blood and get a free doughnut. The Faculty of Health Sciences is conducting a blood drive this week and encourages everyone to roll up their sleeves and donate blood.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) is conducting another blood drive at their office in the Francois Retief Building this week (12 – 14 October 2021), and will be rewarding each donation with a free doughnut.

The faculty is challenging every doctor, nurse, and pharmacist, every paramedic, radiographer, and technician to roll up their sleeves and lend an arm to donate a pint of blood. If every health-care worker joins the donation and donates blood four times a year, there would never be a blood crisis.

The Faculty of Health Sciences invited the South African National Blood Services (SANBS) to the UFS this week to provide all students and staff the opportunity to donate blood at their place of work and study.

The Mental Health Awareness Campaign of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences has included a community service component in our efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues since 2020. This is in light of increasing evidence that altruism and volunteering provide significant benefits to mental health and feelings of well-being. As all our staff and students know the vital importance of blood, we decided to focus on the SANBS as our partner to provide a quick, convenient opportunity to feel like a real hero by donating blood every three months, while enjoying a free snack.

October is Mental Health Awareness Month – we would like to invite all staff and students on campus to participate in this life-giving event.

Details for blood donation are as follows:

When: 12, 13 and 14 October

Time: 07:00-15:00

Where: Francois Retief Foyer, UFS

News Archive

A campaign that rocks

2012-08-28

Ms Elizabeth Msadu
Linda Fekisi
27 August 2012

The 2011/2012 Student Representative Council and Wellness Office on our Bloemfontein Campus launched the “We are your rock” campaign during Women’s Month. The campaign is a support system primarily aimed at female students. It addresses issues such as intimate partner violence, prostitution and students who go hungry. The campaign also caters for those in need of career and academic advice.

The idea for such an initiative was born out of a meeting between Dr Dina Darker, a pastor’s wife at the Kovsie Student Church, and Ms Elizabeth Msadu, a social worker at the Wellness Office. “Dr Darker was concerned about rumours regarding improper behaviour of female students and wanted the input of a social worker on the subject,” says Ms Msadu. “Many girls are in relationships with older men, which result in a high level of unplanned pregnancies that often end in abortions.”

How the initiative works is that a student in need will write her name and contact number on a rock or a piece of paper and put it in a box placed in our Women’s Memorial Garden. Ms Msadu empties the box once a week and contacts the student in need. She describes her experience thus far of the campaign as “interesting, exciting and an eye-opener”.

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