There's Latino blood flowing through the veins of patients from all over New England.
New England Ethnic News recently visited a blood drive for members - blood donors - of the Brazilian community, at the Philadelphia Baptist Church in Framingham, Mass.
The initiative resulted from the indignation of Regina Silva, an immigrant who was outraged by local TV-show hosts who falsely had claimed on air that Brazilians were bringing diseases to Framingham.
"I told them: ‘Be careful, someday you might need to receive blood, and it can be my blood,'" Silva, a Home Depot administrative employee, recalled of the incident in 2006.
Soon after, she contacted Tim Vaal, a recruiter for the American Red Cross, and inquired how the local Brazilian community could help the organization.
Vaal was thrilled to be able to tackle an unexplored market for blood donations. Every year the Red Cross needs to acquire 500,000 donations to meet the demands of New England's 160 hospitals.
Vaal also noted the increase in Latino residents, which according to Census 2000 represents 17.6 percent of the U.S. population.
"We need to get more donations (from Latinos). Right now we see an imbalance in blood supply....Only 3 percent of them are donating," said Vaal.
With Silva helping, Vaal focused his efforts on the Brazilian community. First, he needed to spread the word, and then change the mindset of a community for which donating blood was not a habit.
"In Brazil, people donate only when a family member is in need. Also, because they draw more of your blood in one session, you can only donate twice a year. Here you can do it every six weeks," Silva explained.
The first blood drive in Framingham was a success, wooing 100 donors and 12 deferrals, or blood rejected for not meeting standards for donations.
The entire process of donating blood is highly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, because the donated blood is considered a drug when it goes into a recipient's body. That's why blood transfusions can only be prescribed by a physician.
Donations are voluntary and, during this month's blood drive in Framingham, no one was financially compensated for the one pint (500 ml) of blood donated.
Nurse practitioner Karen Johnson explains that everybody has a pint of blood for every 13 pounds of body weight.
"That's why you have to be at least 110 pounds to donate. We want to make sure you're okay after you donate," Johnson said.
The entire process of donating blood takes about one hour, starting from filling out a questionnaire upon arrival, to the completion of blood being drawn.
Blood donors receive free testing for syphilis, West Nile virus, hepatitis, HIV and other diseases.
"No news is good news. If everything is good, you don't hear from us," said Johnson.
However, she doesn't encourage people to donate blood just because they can get free testing.
"No test is a 100% guaranteed. If someone is worried about HIV, then [he or she] should go to a doctor or a clinic," she said.
All blood donated goes to the Red Cross New England headquarters in Dedham, Mass., and from there to a national testing center in Philadelphia, where the blood results will be ready in 48 to 72 hours.
Ibrahim Medeiros took a break from his landscaper duties to donate blood. One hour later, he was back to work in the town of Sharon, Mass.
"It's important that everybody should help, regardless of national origin," Medeiros says.
Regina Silva smiles, and tells Medeiros how grateful she is. For the past two years she has used the same slogan to create a network of volunteers: "Don't let your immigration status freeze you, act."
"Relax your hands and arms," Valdemar Paulo Armondes whispered in Portuguese to Gilmar Bezerra, a first-time donor.
Armondes volunteered eight hours of his time in order to interpret for about 20 of the Portuguese-speaking donors.
"I don't speak a perfect English, but I understand very well what the Americans say," he said.
Brazilians' attendance at the blood drives has plummeted since last year. Tim Vaal says that's in part justified by the recent exodus of Brazilians, who went back home after immigration reform failed in the Senate nearly one year ago.
But for carpenter Anderson Campos, Brazilians want to participate and help the local community.
"It's a good way of showing we want to live in peace with local residents," he said after his second blood donation.
Catholic housecleaner Judith D'Alcomo highlighted the role of churches in promoting blood drives.
"It's important for the religious leaders to participate because someday, anyone can need blood. And our community here is so vast that we should see more people here," she said.
The charge that Brazilians were bringing diseases to Framingham was never proved. However, that hasn't changed Silva's desire to have more Brazilians donate blood.
"If someone throws a rock at me, I'll be stronger to react," said Silva, who has no medical background and no ties to any advocacy groups.
She just wanted to create a way to help residents, immigrants and non-immigrants alike.
source: EthnicNewz.org
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