“The greatest form of love is acting in others best interest at their worst without any attachment to them. This is unconditional. It may only be attributed to God’s love for mankind.”
It’s commonplace that once a year where we want to or not provided we are alive we will have a birthday. That’s given like the sun rising the next morning. For most of us we wait on birthday wishes, gifts and maybe a treat from the special ones in your life if you are lucky enough to have one. Well, this has become a yardstick to gauge how much you are loved. I wonder how sure you even are of your birthday except for the part that your parents told you about it or had it recorded on your birth certificate. Wait, what of us who were born between two days in the middle of the night? Don’t we have a birthday or do we celebrate it in two days? That’s for another day or maybe I’ll have a chat with mom to clarify that but it’s not the gist of this article today.
Luckily enough we were all born into this world and that’s one of the greatest gifts of life we were ever given. That was the first expression of love you ever witnessed. A mother bearing the pain to bring you to life. Mothers are special people. If not for anything else then for carrying our pregnancies and bringing us to life. Considering on our birthdays, we celebrate coming to life by being born into the world, would it be too much to ask of you to give life on your birthday? I don’t mean you die on your birthday or give birth to another please. If you can give birth to another, that’s lucky enough and I wish you well.
In the recent past I have come to watch news of the deficit in our blood banks in the country. As gift of nature God granted us continuous supply of blood when we were born with a pump system that continually pumps that blood to sustain our lives. Unfortunately, some people either suffer from disease states such as cancers that affect the ability of these pumps to supply them with this essential fluid. This compromises their health and then they rely on support from the generous donations of others.
During delivery, mothers face a risk of suffering hemorrhage with substantial lose of blood. With such blood lose they risk losing their lives or even having further complications at delivery leading to lose of the life of the unborn baby in labor. In order to preserve these lives, they need blood replenishment to stay with us. As it so happens that blood cannot be synthetically produced, they also depend on well-wishers like you to help them get out of the difficult situation and witness another day under the sun.
On 9th September, I was privileged to witness an act of kindness and love. I was reminded of the good in all of us as human beings. The one kind, respectable and diligent Dr Joy Mwenda Mugambi on her birthday instead of looking at the niceties that we wish for on our birthdays’, decided to dedicate hers to call on people to support by donating blood for the care of the sick in hospitals. Reflecting on a presentation she recently made during one of #LadiesTalk forums at Ryculture, I couldn’t stop thinking of her commitment to pursuit of medicine and I believe it was for the love of the patients she cares for. May she live longer and nurture the world for the better as she keeps touching lives.
In 2005 I was at the brink of death. Life is fast fleeting and you can only tell how close you are to taking your last bow when your very mother confesses that she was making peace with the eventuality. I’ve heard it over and over again that it’s a parents’ last wish to bury their child and worst of all at a tender age. Out of human kindness I had my blood transfusion and got a second chance at life. It’s a life defining moment by itself but what matters most is what you do with it.
Life has second chances but it doesn’t have to be you on the receiving end. Some days it is you to extend a hand. It’s painful to watch a mother suffer stroke following hemorrhage at birth, a patient loose consciousness and eventually die because of lack of blood in our banks. An individual can donate blood two times in a year i.e. after every 6 months. If you can donate twice a year chances are you’ll have saved a life. A child will have a chance at being nursed by the mother because of your gift, another soul will recover and walk out of the hospital bed because you gave them a second chance. It’s safe, altruistic and a sign of our common heritage to the human race.
“The blood you donate gives someone another chance at life. Give the gift of life. Donate Blood.”