Armando Siahaan & Katrin Figge

Donors giving blood during an event organized by Tupperware Indonesia at Plaza Semanggi on Friday. (Photo: Jurnasyanto Sukarno, JG)

Shoppers Give the Gift of Blood

As shoppers rushed in and out of the stores at Plaza Semanggi in South Jakarta on Friday, some stopped to donate blood to the Indonesian Red Cross.

Among them was Effi Prabowo, 52, a longtime blood donor.

“This is the 28th time I have given blood,” said Effi, smiling.

“I seek out events like this at which to donate blood — preferably ones that are close to my house.”

Effi said she was introduced to the habit of donating blood by her husband and found, after his death, that she could not abandon it.

“My husband liked to give blood and he got me to go along with him,” she said.

Effi donated blood for the first time in 1990 and now gives blood about four times a year.

She said she’d hoped her son would also be a frequent blood donor, but it turned out that he was afraid of needles.

Rini Astuti is a doctor who has been working for the Indonesian Red Cross for the past six years.

She said the average daily amount of blood needed by hospitals in the city was 300 units, which meant about 300 blood donations a day were needed.

“This is just for Jakarta hospitals,” she said. “Sometimes other areas also require help from Jakarta.”

Rini said the Red Cross distributed the blood to the hospitals for free, but passed along some of the processing costs, such as for the blood bags and chemicals.

Some of the donors at the Semanggi blood drive on Friday were first-timers.

“A friend told me about the event and I asked to tag along,” said Jojo, 29.

At the event, Jojo first had his blood pressure taken and was weighed to determine how much blood he could safely give.

After waiting 30 minutes for his turn, he entered the booth set up in the atrium of the mall and reappeared looking a bit wobbly-legged, before rushing back to his office.

Rini said donors often reported dizziness after giving blood, particularly those who didn’t take good physical care of themselves.

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” she said. “If you’re sleep deprived — less than five hours — and you haven’t had enough food that day, then you might feel dizzy. But that’s only for a bit.”

“But if you’ve eaten properly, had enough sleep the night before and you’re healthy,” she said, “then you should be fine.”

The blood drive was organized by Tupperware Indonesia in celebration of its 18th anniversary.

“We wanted to celebrate our anniversary by sharing,” said Umayanti Utami, a communications official at the company.

“We chose to organize a blood drive because it’s something that most people can do.”

Umayanti said it was not the first time the company had organized a blood drive. Last year Tupperware Indonesia conducted a blood drive at the same shopping mall, collecting about 600 units of blood. This year’s target was between 1,000 and 1,500 units.

As a token of appreciation, blood donors received a goody bag from Tupperware and the Indonesian Red Cross, which included vitamins, biscuits, milk and Tupperware products.

Rini said that it was not difficult to stir up enthusiasm for donating blood, and while the goody bags were an incentive, she believed most people who took part in the blood drive genuinely wanted to help.

Thirty-year-old housewife Siti gave blood on Friday for the second time ever.

“I heard about this event on the radio and also read about it in Tabloid Nova,” she said. “I figured, why not donate blood to the people who really need it?”

“Of course it’s nice to get a souvenir,” Siti added.

“But I would have done it even without the gifts.”

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