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(Baonghean) - On the occasion of the upcoming National Voluntary Blood Donation Day on April 7th, Nghe An Newspaper had a conversation with Nguyen Thi Phuong, a third-year student at Vinh Medical University and Deputy Head of the Thanh Vinh Living Blood Bank Club.

- Hi Phuong, I understand you've participated in voluntary blood donation 14 times. So, when did you start and what motivates you to actively participate in this activity?

Nguyen Thi Phuong went to campaign for blood donation.

- As a medical student, I've probably heard of the voluntary blood donation movement at least once. When I first started, I simply thought of it as a social activity and didn't pay much attention to it. But at the end of my first year, while doing my internship at the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, I happened to learn about a little girl from Tuong Duong district who had congenital hemolytic anemia and had been waiting a week for blood. The girl was only 2 years old, thin, pale, covered in sores, and unable to eat. Her mother had lost her milk early and could only sit and cry while holding her child.

Seeing that scene, I felt incredibly sorry for the child and immediately volunteered to check her health and donate blood. After donating almost a unit of blood, the child began to regain consciousness, moved her lips, and asked for food. Since that blood donation, I've thought a lot about this activity. I started researching the school's voluntary blood donation programs and reading about volunteer movements in other localities in books and newspapers. In early 2013, when the Red Journey program was launched across Vietnam, even though I wasn't a member, I went online every day to read information as if it were an urge. When the program came to Vinh, I wrote an application to become a volunteer... About three months later, the Vinh Living Blood Bank Club was established, and I was one of the first members to apply and was called the F1 generation. I've been involved with this movement ever since.

Phuong and her friends in the club are campaigning and participating in blood donation activities.

- The Thanh Vinh Living Blood Bank Club was established entirely on a voluntary and spontaneous basis. Surely, in its early days, the club's members faced many difficulties?

- When the club was first established, it had over 30 members. With the goal of creating a living blood bank to provide blood to patients at any time, each member had to meet a target, and at least one person had to have a list of 5-10 volunteer blood donors. The work was much more difficult than we imagined. Persuading someone to donate blood was very challenging, especially for living blood donation, because not everyone could manage their time, and not everyone was willing to go to the hospital in the middle of the night to volunteer to donate blood to someone they didn't know…

- August 26th, October 10th, February 16th, March 9th… are the names the club often uses to refer to its groups. What do these names mean? And how does the club organize so many activities when there is no organizing body and most members are students?

- August 26th was the first day the club recruited volunteers, and since then we have recruited six times, on October 10th, February 16th, and so on. After more than two years of establishment with over 100 volunteers, we now operate with many different activities. For example, the August 26th group consists mostly of members studying medicine, so the group mainly focuses on patient care, particularly supporting patients with thalassemia. This support includes providing emotional support by visiting them, giving them snacks and sweets, organizing activities to help them have fun, and assisting them with their studies.

In addition, they also support families in difficult circumstances. Group 10/10 is responsible for cooking meals twice a week, each time providing 15-20 meals to homeless and destitute people in Vinh City, encouraging elderly people to return to their families if possible, and providing other support within their means. The "Red Address - Golden Heart" activity is organized by Group 9/3 in collaboration with the Elderly Charity Fund, Nghe An branch. The main activities include visiting and giving gifts to families in difficult circumstances in Nghe An province, elderly people living alone; and supporting Buddhist programs at temples…

In reality, we don't have a reserve fund. Each time we launch a program, the club members collectively contribute, solicit donations from benefactors, or raise funds through collecting recyclable materials. Some contributions come from volunteers themselves, using money they receive as health benefits after donating blood…

- The community always calls for "every drop of blood donated saves a life," also to honor blood donors and praise this silent but noble act. As for Phuong, when doing this work, does she ever feel disheartened when people say it's a thankless job? What are you and your club planning?

- It's called "giving," but I feel like I've "received" a lot since joining the club. Before, I was shy and hesitant to interact with crowds, but after just two years of volunteering, especially after being entrusted with the role of vice-chairperson, I feel much more confident. I'm also very happy when my friends say that I'm "busy around the club but also have the 'heart' to keep it going," so I can't "give up" when I feel tired...

We currently have many plans. For example, on April 5th, we will be organizing the "Drop of Red in Nghe An" voluntary blood donation event, and so far, the goal of collecting 300 units of blood has been achieved by all groups. However, we still want to mobilize even more... The club will also continue to organize many charitable programs and expand its scope; conduct awareness campaigns for people, especially those in mountainous areas, about blood diseases and the dangers of blood. In addition, we are building a "Networking - Friendship" program with the aim of establishing more voluntary blood donation clubs at universities so that whenever there is a need, depending on the area, the clubs will have a readily available source of blood. Further, we want to promote activities to create a large community of voluntary blood donors and help people change their perceptions about humanitarian blood donation.

- Thank you, Phuong, for this conversation! I wish you and the club many more meaningful activities in the future!

My Ha(Perform)