Make Your Mother Proud
Carried out by the spirit of solidarity, American and Tunisian U.S. Embassy staff rolled up their sleeves and donated blood to the Tunisian blood bank. Led by Ambassador Gordon Gray, they showed their commitment to community service and to honor a tradition that started more than 20 years ago. This initiative, organized by the Embassy’s medical unit, attracted a considerable number of U.S. Mission employees. The first to arrive and donate was Ambassador Gordon Gray, who noted that blood donation clearly saves lives.
In addition to supporting the mission of the Tunisian blood bank, the blood drive honored President Obama’s wish for a National Day of Service and Remembrance to commemorate the memory of September 11th, 2001. On this day, the President encourages Americans to reach out to others through interfaith and other services to foster increased understanding among people of different faiths and cultures. This Day of Service was an opportunity for Embassy staff to reflect on the anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 and to show their appreciation for rescue workers around the world who risk their lives daily so that victims can survive disasters, whether large or small.
This annual blood drive was held in cooperation with the Tunisian “Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine” under the direction of Dr. Belhassen Khlass. The “Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine” (CNTS) is the sole civilian supplier of blood to hospitals and healthcare centers across the country. Blood donation is entirely anonymous, voluntary, and compensation free. Blood collected from the U.S. Embassy will be screened and processed at the central blood bank and sent to whoever is in need throughout Tunisia.
The Embassy’s medical officer Grant Ludwig expressed his deep appreciation for the Center’s activities, saying, “the U.S. Embassy is proud to support the Tunisian Blood Transfusion Center, which had in the past favorably responded to requests made by the Mission and by individual U.S. citizens.” Dr. Ben Moussa added that “this event has become a milestone in the Mission’s activities and employees are keen on joining it to reflect their full support and commitment to this noble cause.”
The Mission’s medical unit regularly raises the employees’ awareness about medical issues and conducts healthcare campaigns including flu shots, health & fitness month or H1N1 sensitization programs. Before donating blood, employees are thoroughly screened by CNTS staff; this year, as always, some donors were turned down as their health conditions did not permit them to give blood on that day.
The Tunisian CNTS medical staff said they were extremely pleased with this year’s donation results, and expressed their gratitude to Ambassador Gray and to the staff of the U.S. Mission, which is the sole Embassy in Tunisia to hold blood drives.
Where to donate:
Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine
Address : Rue Djebel Lakhdar 1006 Tunis
Telephone : 71 573 884 - 71 574 106 - 71 573 948
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