A total of 1,095 days have elapsed since the detection of the first case of covid-19 in Colombia. It was on March 6, 2020 when confirmation of the arrival of this disease to the countrywhich began a chapter riddled with vicissitudes and challenges that, in the end, have begun to fall by the wayside.
The Cádiz Tissue and Cell Transfusion Center, as part of its ‘Donate blood and save lives’ campaign, has programmed two blood drives in Jerez de la Frontera for this week, in which we say goodbye to the month of January and welcome February.
As explained by the CTTC in a statement, “after the Christmas period the blood pools they find each other diminished and it returns to the usual transfusion activity, for this reason we appeal to the population to come and donate. We need donations from everyone blood groups without exception, and especially among them, the O negative and A negative blood groups”.
The first one will be held at the premises of the neighborhood association of the neighborhood of Atlantic Park located in Plaza de Arlés S/N this same Monday, January 30, 2023.
The venue will open in the afternoon from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The CTTC will enable another point with a mobile unit for blood donation in the Jerez building 2002 at the Chapín sports complex located on Avenida Rafa Verdú on Tuesday, January 31 and Wednesday, February 1.
On both dates, the building will open from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The fixed Blood Donation Point of the Transfusion, Tissue and Cell Center located in the Hospital de Jerez will be open during working hours from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
In principle, you can be a blood donor if you are between 18 and 65 years old, weigh more than 50 kilos and are generally in good health. Note that:
-It is necessary to have the minimum weight indicated because each donation collects a standard amount for all donors (450 ml)
-Women can donate up to 3 times a year, and men, 4
-At least two months must elapse between each blood donation
-It is not necessary to be fasting to donate blood; even having made a normal meal you can donate without problems
-You can donate blood even if you have high cholesterol or take some frequent medications
-You cannot do it if you suffer from anemia or carry out risk practices that facilitate the spread of diseases
Another case of transformation occurs from Barranquilla with an independent initiative that seeks, through music, to promote cultural appropriation, as well as to generate environmental awareness through recycling.
The project, led by the musician William Martínezallows children, young people and adults to delve into the musical roots of the Colombian Caribbean using materials that have completed their useful life to give them a second use and build instruments with them.
It is about ‘Instruments for the world’, which was born two years ago through an application to the portfolio of stimuli of the Ministry of Culture.
“One of the requisite questions to present the project was how the musical ecosystem can be enriched, and looking at the society in which we find ourselves, I realized that there is not much in terms of recycling, access to instruments is very high and the general knowledge of the people in front of the autochthonous instruments is very poor. That’s when I saw how this proposal could answer these three questions and from that moment ‘Instruments for the world’ was born”, he recounted.
Boys and girls are part of the project who attend classes given by Martínez, in which they are taught the native instruments of the region, the importance of recycling and their subsequent construction.
“The musical ecosystem is made up of the social fabric and this has to heal in its different areas (…) all children are explorers by nature and somehow the advent of technology has stolen a bit of playing and experimenting. So this work with the children seeks not only to teach them about native instruments, but also for them to explore acoustics, sound, music and to generate their own instruments”, he said.
Las plastic and glass bottles, PVC pipesglasses, wood, boxes and other elements serve as inputs so that these little ones can create flutes, bagpipes, drums, guacharacas and other recyclable instruments.
“They are small classes and not all of them are theoretical. I gather the children and tell them about the sound. The first experiments they do are phones with disposable plastic cups and using other recyclable materials, they see that there are some that transmit vibration better than others”, said the musician, who added that from the first experience children stop seeing garbage as rubbish and they always look for ways to generate a sound and create instruments in everything they find.
A manual results from these classes with the type of instruments they chose, the materials they used, the scores they devised and the songs they created. “That material remains and serves as the basis for expanding the project to other places.”
“The most important thing about all this is that if you are aware not only of the region’s music, but also the importance of recycling, we did it, because we are educating people, making music and recycling. That already makes a change in society and that is what we are looking for with ‘Instruments for the world’”, she asserted.
Finally, he expressed his wish that the project could be financed by the State or the district or departmental administrations to offer schools free courses for students to create the instruments, recycle and disseminate the results of the investigations that have been made of endangered instruments.
