Bleeding Heck

My new housemate is a cocktail expert. I'm currently getting no work done. He's testing things out for a local bar. This was a coffee, Kahlúa and vodka mix with marshmallow.

Need a bit of cheering up. Just had a really awful experience.

A guy posted on a local forum about donating blood in Kigali. He's here for a short time and wanted to do something to help. I got in contact and said I'd go with him. My dad's a lifelong blood donor and I used to do it years back, before moving to a malaria zone.

I went to ask if it would be possible to donate, as I had malaria in 2015 and in the UK you can't give blood for three years afterwards. Which doesn't make a lot of sense because Coartem, which they use to treat malaria, kills the parasite dead. A week after the treatment, my blood tests came back clean. Three years seems a very long time for something that is usually cured quite quickly.

Here, that wasn't a problem.

Instead, they wouldn't take my blood because I'm mildly asthmatic.

I've never encountered this before, and I've never had any problems giving blood in the past. When I showed my blood donor card, I was handed a sheet that had a checklist of health questions: cancer, heart disease, pregnancy - but not asthma. 

It wasn't so much the weird reason that upset me, it was the way I was treated. The doctor, or nurse (not sure which), spoke only in French and directed all questions to the the guy I was with. She hardly looked at me and didn't ask me any questions.

From my friend's translation it seemed as though she started off saying I could donate, but there was a risk, then said I couldn't, then said I could come back and speak with a doctor another day.

Yet the Red Cross say:

Asthma [is] acceptable as long as you do not have any limitations on daily activities and are not having difficulty breathing at the time of donation and you otherwise feel well.

When I tried to talk, she talked over me, so I just decided to leave.

It was a horrible experience, and completely counter productive in a country with a major blood shortage (ironically, due to malaria).

There are some other weird things about donating blood here. Like an article that says women can't give blood during their period or for seven days afterwards. I'd never heard that one before. The Australian Red Cross even answers the question 'Can I donate blood whilst on my period?' with:

Yes. Menstruating doesn’t affect your ability to donate. Enjoy your relaxing time on the donation couch and a guilt-free snack afterwards.

Seems every country has got some weird set of rules, and sometimes weird staff, designed to put people off donating blood.

If there was a legitimate reason, fine, but talk to me - the person in front of you - and explain it politely rather than making me feel bad for wasting my time, money and goodwill coming to see you.

Don't think I'll be going back.

Anyway, at least that means I can binge out on chocolate and pour myself a beer now. 

Had a lovely time at Jo's the other day. She threw a bonfire party where everybody had to bring a tradition. There was a bonfire with a guy, mince pies and several 'traditional' drinking games, including ibble dibble, where people end up with soot all over their faces. A really good night.

Creepy Guy