AILYN AGONIA - DOHA Members of Triskelion, a fraternity of Filipino expatriates, organised a blood donation camp at the Philippine Labour Office (POLO-OWWA) here on Friday. The event billed Dugong Alay, Sagip Buhay (Blood Gift, Save Life) was the first such activity organised by Triskelion’s Qatar chapter formed in 2004. It was also the group’s first socio-civic activity for the year. With the help of the Hamad Medical Corporation’s blood donation unit, Triskelion members and their guests spearheaded the activity. The donors were thoroughly screened before being allowed to donate blood.

Candice Sigua, one of the event’s organisers said more than 30 Triskellion members participated in the activity for the benefit of Hamad patients especially Filipino expatriates. “It is up to Hamad how they will make use of our group’s donation but we have indicated our intention of having Filipino patients in the priority list since the activity was organised primarily for the benefit of the Filipino community here,” she said.

One of the first batch of donors during the event was Triskelion President Michael Samson. He said organising such socio-civic activities is part of the reason for founding a chapter of the fraternity in Qatar.

“We have so far 310 registered members in our fraternity. These people get-together not only to bond and render support to each other but also to help Filipinos in need. We make it a point to have a special project every month. Top on the list of our beneficiaries are distressed Filipino workers in Qatar,” said Michael. He added that Triskelion was planning to make blood donation one of its regular activities.

Triskellion is part of over 90 existing Filipino organisations in Qatar that work with the Philippine embassy to help in its assistance mission. Earlier it had organised included a medical mission and a bowling tournament. The money was used to share the cost of the plane ticket of one of the Filipino runaway maids last year. The organisation also supported another national to meet her dialysis treatment expenses besides donating money for helping typhoon victims in the Philippines.

The Triskelion for which helping the Filipino community remains the top priority for the year is planning to a bowling tournament in March and a bigmedical mission in August.