Just a little aside here.... Voluntary blood donation is extremely scarce in Guatemala. There are many myths about what might happen to you if you give blood - you'll get fat, you'll be impotent, you'll just never be the same - that people really believe. As far as what I've heard from people here, there haven't been any large scale compaigns for blood donation either. As a result, there is a blood bank, but almost no blood. For this reason, if someone needs a blood transfusion or is going to have an operation where blood will be needed, before they can receive blood or get the operation, they need to find people to donate blood. Basically, you need to replace what you will use from the blood bank before you get it. Usually it's relatives or close friends that will donate for you. This proved a little difficult for one patient in the hospital, the guy who had the kidney stones. The doctor said he needed a tranfusion of at least a half liter of blood. The patient said he asked family members but they either had their own health problems or simply didn't want to. He also asked a girl that works with him and she said she would donate, but only a quarter of a liter.
Sometimes people chicken out at the screening before the blood draw when they are asked questions about sexuality and infidelity. Sometimes their blood sample doesn't pass the screen for whatever reason. And sometimes, after you go through the whole process, the technician looks at your veins and says they won't take your blood because your veins are too thin or too hard to find. That's what happened to one of my teachers. She tried to give blood for heart surgery that her mother-in-law needed, but they wouldn't even stick the needle in her arm. They eventually had to pay someone else to give blood.
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