New Blood in Brazilian Volunteering

On 5th December 2002 (International Volunteer Day), our organization –partner of the UNV- and the NGO “Voluntários do Sangue” (Volunteers of blood), created this project, whose main goal was to raise people’s awareness about the importance of donating blood.

In order to accomplish this, lectures on the issue where organized at schools, and young volunteers were trained to be multiplying agents, i.e. they would spread the word to a larger audience.

STEPS

Qualification
To make sure that the youth turn into multiplying agents, educational lectures were organized, seeking a good integration of these into the community. We taught them the process of donating blood, prioritizing the following:

● Ethics, citizenship and cultural diversity
● Biology (study of the components of blood), STD, drug abuse

These multiplying youth visited banks of blood (hemocenters) in São Paulo and its outskirts, in order to deepen the knowledge acquired during the lectures. They got the chance to witness the whole process of donating blood: from the extraction of blood to the stock and analysis.

Work in Groups/ Development of actions focused on multiplying areas

After the qualification of the youth, further lectures where organized in the city of Carapicuiba. With the support of public schools, local churches and associations, these “multiplying agents” got the chance to spread their knowledge.