Final outcome...

So, the event is done and dusted and it was a huge success, we managed to raise quite a lot of money and Jeans for Genes and Sunflower Fund got Rs. 14,000 in total this year. Combining it with the Rs 24,500 from last year, we have in total Rs 38,500! This is great and both organisations can benefit from it! I am really happy and I would like to thank all the people who were involved, especially those who came on the Saturday and helped set-up. I know that giving almost 14 hours on a Saturday is a big thing to ask and you all gave that up for such a wonderful cause. Thank you so very, very much. Without you all, it would not have been possible :)

Thanks to all the people who came and watched as your tickets helped raise money for this and last but definitely not the least, my thanks goes to all the participants for giving such good performances and the judges for their remarkable judging and Mrs Waller who helped me tremendously in organising this event.

Here are some photos from the event :)

Updates on Mr and Miss Northfields prep

Hey guys, 

This last week has been very hectic as we all have had to go to form classes again and again to try and get people motivated enough to volunteer to participate in Mr and Miss Northfields. We have had some successes - we have the participants for form 1, 3, 4, L6 and U6. The only remaining participants we need are from form 2 and 5. Hopefully, we will be able to get the names by next week.

Other than that the prep was the event is going smoothly, we are getting the posters and the tickets ready and we are in the process of finding a suitable DJ. We are also looking at decorations and the tents. All in all, everything is going smoothly. However, I am afraid that I may not have time to be able to blog from next week, I will put an entry just before the event - 27th of October but until then, this is me saying bye :)

Changes in the format of Mr and Miss Northfields

Hey everyone!

So, as I told you guys last week, I would tell you what happened in the meeting. But first, let me tell you who is in the committee of organising Mr and Miss Northfields:

We have form Upper Sixth form - Trisha, Maneka, Kevin, Keshee, Kanushka (who will be helping out for some time only since she has her exams to worry about) and me.

From the Lower Sixth group we have - Deepa, Sonam, Sonali, Basanti, Analuxmee, and two new students - Talitha and Evan.

I really appreciate all the work these people have done and are willing to do in the future. Without these guys, I would never have been able to do an event so big. Thanks guys for helping out :)

So, there have been major changes to the format of Mr and Miss Northfields since last year. we have scrapped the seperate dancing section altogether and we have also scrapped the 1 minute speech on "Why should I be selected to win Mr/Miss/Prince/Princess Northfields?".

Instead of that, we have introduced a skit to be performed by all the participants and a rapid-fire round at the end.

This is how it is going to be:

First round: Modelling - Jeans for Genes and Bandanna Day themed.

Second round: Skit by the participants.

Third round: Talent (1 minute for each participant)

Fourth round: Rapid-Fire round.

We are now going to start looking at finding the participants from all form groups and this is going to take some time so I will have to go now - I have to plan how to convince students of various forms to come forward and participate.

Cheers :)

A little change in plans...

I was looking forward to planning the fashion show for this year's event, suddenly, I realised that our school's annual function was going to be at the same time as my fashion show. Obviously we can't have two events of that magnitude at the same time or around the same time. So, instead of leaving the project altogether, I went to Mrs Waller - the person in charge of Mr and Miss Northfields (our annual function) - and I sat down and talked to her about my predicament.

She suggested that we merge the two events as modelling is already part of Mr and Miss Northfields. So, now the modelling part of Mr and Miss Northfields is going to be Jeans for Genes and Bandanna Day themed. This means that even more people will come and I will be able to raise even more money. This sounds really good. The volunteers that I had gathered have agreed to help me with planning Mr and Miss Northfields and hopefully, this year's Mr and Miss Northfields will be the best one so far!

I have now asked Mrs Hung for a time where all of us (volunteers, me and my friends who have agreed to help and Mrs Waller) can meet up and decide on how we are going to tackle all the details concerning Mr and Miss Northfields and Mrs Hung has been very helpful by letting us have the CAS lesson. I will let you all know what happens in the meeting. Till then, any suggestions as to what we can do differently this year are appreciated. 

Cheers :)

Back to school

So, this week was the first week back and I have already started looking for volunteers in my form group as well as the Lower Sixth form group because I really would like the tradition of doing something concerning Jeans for Genes and Bandanna Day to live after I have graduated. I think that these two organisations are really worthwhile especially because there are people who are connected to this school by their family who have genetic disorders, so Jeans for Genes is something really close to my heart. 

Sunflower fund is something that I think should be given more importance and recognition to. The people in this organisation do so much to try and find donors for their children and it breaks my heart to know that most people don't even know that their is an organisation like this. That's why I decided to do both Jeans for Genes and Bandanna day.

The response that I have gotten so far is very positive and I am delighted to know that so many people are willing to help me out in planning the fashion week for these organisations. It shows the spirit of the school and I am proud to be a part of this wonderful school. I am so excited for this year's event! I think it is going to be a huge event and hopefully we will be able to raise a lot of money for Jeans for Genes and Bandanna Day!

A little history about the Sunflower Fund

SUSTAINING AN EFFECTIVE SABMR

The South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) is in desperate need of donors from all ethnic groups and mixed ethnic backgrounds.

Regrettably, the SAMBR does not receive any government funding towards the cost of tissue typing the blood samples and exists solely on donations from the public.

Without financial support the work of the SABMR would come to a complete halt and bone marrow transplantation would no longer be a treatment option in South Africa.
This is why The Sunflower Fund (Friends of the South African Bone Marrow Registry) was formed in 1999.The Sunflower Fund is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation based in Cape Town, South Africa, with a vision to give all South Africans diagnosed with leukaemia and other life-threatening blood disorders the chance of life, irrespective of their race and financial circumstances.

The Sunflower Fund’s core purpose is to educate, recruit and raise funds to build and sustain an effectiveSABMR as a viable source of well informed ethnically-diverse potential bone marrow donors so as to meet the national and international requirements and improve the chances of life-saving transplants for serious blood disorder sufferers.


Sunflower Achievements

So far, our efforts - with the support of many others - have increased the donor numbers on the SABMR from a mere 1,200 in 1999 to over 65 500 today! Also, since April 2003 to date, The Sunflower Fund spent just over R4 million on tissue typing throughout South Africa. This is a wonderful achievement, yet more needs to be done.

Due to the 1:100 000 chance of finding a compatible donor, at least 100 000 donors are needed for a Registry to function effectively and in South Africa, the Registry should ideally have 400 000 donors representative of all ethnic groups.

Link : http://www.sunflowerfund.org.za/index.php/2011-10-06-09-43-53/our-mission

65, 000 donors is a great achievement but the odds are against this wonderful organisation... If you are over 18, please become a donor and please let your family and friends know about this wonderful organisation and help them save more lives!

Causes of leukemia

So, I found this site which gives a lot of information about leukemia and I have put some part of it here:

Symptoms of leukemia

• Blood clotting is poor - As immature white blood cells crowd out blood platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting, the patient may bruise or bleed easily and heal slowly - he may also develop petechiae (a small red to purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage).


• Affected immune system - The patient's white blood cells, which are crucial for fighting off infection, may be suppressed or not working properly. The patient may experience frequent infections, or his immune system may attack other good body cells.


• Anemia - As the shortage of good red blood cells grows the patient may suffer from anemia - this may lead to difficult or labored respiration (dyspnea) and pallor (skin has a pale color caused by illness).


• Other symptoms - Patients may also experience nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, flu-like symptoms, and tiredness. If the liver or spleen becomes enlarged the patient may feel full and will eat less, resulting in weight loss. Headache is more common among patients whose cancerous cells have invaded the CNS (central nervous system).


• Precaution - As all these symptoms could be due to other illnesses. A diagnosis of leukemia can only be confirmed after medical tests are carried out.

What causes leukemia?

Experts say that different leukemias have different causes. The following are either known causes, or strongly suspected causes:

• Artificial ionizing radiation
• Viruses - HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
• Benzene and some petrochemicals
• Alkylating chemotherapy agents used in previous cancers
• Maternal fetal transmission (rare)
• Hair dyes
• Genetic predisposition - some studies researching family history and looking at twins have indicated that some people have a higher risk of developing leukemia because of a single gene or multiple genes.
• Down syndrome - people with Down syndrome have a significantly higher risk of developing leukemia, compared to people who do not have Down syndrome. Experts say that because of this, people with certain chromosomal abnormalities may have a higher risk.
• Electromagnetic energy - studies indicate there is not enough evidence to show that ELF magnetic (not electric) fields that exist currently might cause leukemia. The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) says that studies which indicate there is a risk tend to be biased and unreliable.

The link to this site: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142595.php

So get this - you can get leukemia from a genetic disposition - that is something really new to me... I never thought that genes could play a role in having or not having leukemia... It opened my eyes, has it opened yours? Also, some of the other ways one could get leukemia are astonishing - I never would have thought that hair dyes could play a part in someone having leukemia...

What your money does for children with genetic disorders?

So, I went to the official site for Jeans for Genes and I found this:

• £10 will pay for 60 minutes of specialist telephone advice for parents caring for a child with severe neurological genetic conditions.  
• £50 will pay for a mother to attend a support day, giving her the help she needs to care for an extremely rare and profoundly disabling genetic condition.
• £100 will help fund an educational booklet, helping teachers to maximise opportunities available to children with inherited learning disabilities.
• £150 will pay for one child carer to enjoy a summer camp, enabling them to meet others in a similar situation, share experiences, reduce feelings of isolation and giving them some much needed fun
• £250 will help fund a website where children affected with sex development disorders can obtain information and support, without the need to disclose their identity
• £500 will pay for 5 families, affected by profound disabilities, to enjoy an adaptive skiing session, where they can have fun, build confidence and friendships with others in similar situations.  
• £1,000 will help fund a film for teenagers with a life limiting condition, helping them to come to terms with, and encouraging them to begin to take responsibility for, their condition.
• £2,000 will help fund a sensory toy warehouse for children with a rare premature aging disorder, enhancing their senses and providing parents with a way to fun and pleasurable way to engage with their child who might otherwise have limited ways of interacting.

Right now, we as a school are just above the £500 mark... and I think we can go past the £1000 mark at least this year, but that will all depend on how the school's community responds....

Just think of the happiness those families will be feeling due to our contribution....

Genetic disorders - their reasons...

I am no expert in biology and I haven't done biology since grade 8 so instead of me making a fool of myself by trying to explain to you all what causes genetic disorders, I found an article... :)

What is a genetic disease?

A genetic disease is any disease that is caused by an abnormality in an individual's genome. The abnormality can range from minuscule to major -- from a discrete mutation in a single base in the DNA of a single gene to a gross chromosome abnormality involving the addition or subtraction of an entire chromosome or set of chromosomes. Some genetic disorders are inherited from the parents, while other genetic diseases are caused by acquired changes or mutations in a preexisting gene or group of genes. Mutations occur either randomly or due to some environmental exposure.

What are the different types of inheritance?

There are a number of different types of genetic inheritance, including the following four modes:

Single gene inheritance

Single gene inheritance, also called Mendelian or monogenetic inheritance. This type of inheritance is caused by changes or mutations that occur in the DNA sequence of a single gene. There are more than 6,000 known single-gene disorders, which occur in about 1 out of every 200 births. These disorders are known as monogenetic disorders (disorders of a single age).

Some examples of monogenetic disorders include:

• cystic fibrosis,
• sickle cell anemia,
• Marfan syndrome,
• Huntington's disease, and
• hemochromatosis.
  
  
  This is the link of the website - http://www.medicinenet.com/genetic_disease/article.htm

1 in 200 births..... That is a very high number.... I guess genetic disorders are more common than I thought... This has given me more encouragement to do what I am doing... Hope some of you also think about contributing to this cause....

Vacations!

So, I am now on vacation and I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible, but I don't think I will be able to update it every week... So my target is once in two weeks... Let's see how well that goes :)

In the mean time - I will leave you all to think about this:

I came across this while I was researching for Jeans for Genes and Sunflower Fund....

A complication

It seems like I won't be able to tell all the students about the fashion show this academic year, since I haven't been able to write up the proposal form and an email to the parents due to my presence at Group 4 and next week school camp... I feel very bummed out... I had really wanted students to be able to work on this during the holidays but it seems like that is not going to happen anymore... I will have to do something in the first 2 - 3 weeks in next academic year so that students get enough time and we have a good number and quality of entries to be judged...

Well, that is about it today, I have to go and first unpack my bag from Group 4 and then pack my bag for the school camp...In the mean time, let me know if any of you have any ideas about the event - as always, I am open to suggestions :) 

Final ideas

So, I know, I haven't written in a veeeeery long time but that was due to my final exams. Now I have thought a lot about what I am going to do for the two special days and I think that these ideas will work very well and will be nice for the students.

So my idea for Jeans for Genes - have a fashion show where students customise a pair of old jeans and the most creative one will recieve a prize (the identity of the prize is a secret!) and so will the two runners-up. We will have a panel of jury and maybe we will have the students vote also.

We can have like a certain section for customised bandanas as well and we will have categories for prizes like best design, most cute, most funny etc. We can make this into a huge event and with the right planning and volunteers, I think I can pull this off. 

I will need a new proposal form T.Hung - please could you email me the form? After I have done the proposal form, I will first find a panel of jury and then prepare an email that will go out to the whole school. Hopefully, I will be able to finish this by the end of the school year, so all the students can start brainstorming and can start their respective projects.

And everyone else, I would love your views about this and if you can think of anything else, please don't hesitate to inform me by posting a comment!

A purpose...

Today, I wanna talk about a purpose - a purpose for which you are ready to go to many lengths and the reason behind it....

I started looking at Jeans for Genes last year, when my then CAS adviser had told me about a possible event I could do. No way, had I thought that Jeans for Genes would have taken over my life in such a way. If you had asked me last year before I signed up for doing an event for Jeans for Genes, that I would be doing it this year too, I would have said - umm... no thanks... But today, I feel as if I am always connected to those people. 

When Mrs Hung had asked me what I would do as my CAS project - the first thing that came in my mind was Jeans for Genes and then when I started thinking, I also found out that Bandana Day was near the Jeans for Genes Day, I decided to take up both the causes.... And I am proud of myself for doing that...Yes, I could use a bit more of free time right now, but I will never sacrifice my time on planning for these two events....

As you can see, I am being very philosophical today and I feel like helping people out has become somewhat of a purpose for me. Hence the title - a purpose.... I would like you all to think about that while I am away... I don't think I will be able to write something for the next 2 - 3 weeks since I will be having my final exams...But I will be thinking of ways to promote these two wonderful organisations...

A heartwarming story....

So, today, I went to the official site of Jeans for Genes and I read and watched some videos about the people who have genetic disorders. I felt sad and happy at the same time... Sad because all these people had to deal with problems due to no one's fault and that such extraordinary people had to worry and think about so many things that a normal person person their age didn't have to...

On the other hand, I felt happy because I had helped these people in some way or the other through my work...and when I sat down and thought about it, these people wouldn't be that special if they didn't have their conditions... Some of them have set an example for the rest of us to follow... They are saying to life that no matter what life throws at them, they will keep going...

Here is the link to the videos of some children:

http://www.jeansforgenesday.org/disorders/childrensfilms

It also makes me think how petty some of my problems seem when compared to the problems some of them have to face every single day...

So, with that reflective state of mind, I leave you to think about how you can contribute towards this cause....

An update on the ideas...

So, I thought about the ideas that I had last week and I have now scratched out candle workshop, since it was clashing with someone else's project... I am thinking we will do the fashion show and we could have the bandannas being sold also... I will have to talk to the Sunflower Fund organisation in SA to confirm that... 

As far as the fashion show is concerned, I think that it is very viable and that we could have lots of people coming in... I will have to talk to my CAS adviser for this first and then we will see where this ends up :)

Right now, all these ideas are very rough, still in development phase so if anyone has any other ideas, please do come forward and share :) 

Ideas for activities for these causes

So I have been thinking about things we can do at our school to raise awareness and money for the organisations and here is what I have come up with:

For Jeans for Genes, we can have the denim diaries like last year, in addition to a modelling contest where students customise a pair of jeans by putting creative things about Jeans for Genes and model it. The jeans which look the best (we will have a panel of jury judging this!) will receive a prize. I can tell the students this term and then next term close to the date of Jeans for Genes day, we will have a show. The students can take my help or the teachers help during the after school tutorial sessions I am planning to hold. This is along with a civvies day on Friday 5 October 2012 where everyone will wear jeans with their school shirts. There is a possibility of bake sales specific to Jeans for Genes. 

For Sunflower fund, I was thinking let students customise a bandana that they buy from us or make one from scratch which will be judged also and the bandana which shows the most creativity will win a prize as well as the runner ups. For this too, there will be after school sessions where students can come to use any of the art supplies or get our help. The sessions will be during this term and the students will have the opportunity to work on the bandanas during the holidays. There will be of course, the bandanas from the organisation itself if they still sell them. Another idea that has just cropped in my mind is that of customising candles or making candles with the colour scheme of yellows, oranges and reds and we can sell them. 

These ideas are very rough and I have just thought about them, let me know if you think they are feasible or if you have any other ideas!

Till next week or sooner, this is me signing off. :)

Hello to all the people who are reading this right now!

I am a novice at this so please excuse me if I am wrong somewhere. This is my first post and I would like to give you an appetiser of what I am going to do for some time. 
My opinion is that most of the people who will read the title will probably think, oh, someone in her family or her friends must have died from cancer or has a genetic disorder but that is not true. No one in my family or my friend circle has died out of cancer or has a genetic disorder. 

However, I think that no one in your family has to die before you start supporting such worthwhile organisations. I know that for some of you it might be "Well, it doesn't concern me, so I am not going to bother" but it does matter. There are people out there who could benefit from your support and from whom you could benefit also by learning to share your caring and standing up for something you believe in.

Before you come to a conclusion that I am a PR assistant on one of these organisations (no, I am not), I would like you to think about all the things you can do while having fun and giving some money to these organisations and please share these ideas with me.

These are both organisations that are close to my heart and I would very much like it, if they were close to your heart too. I will be putting more posts with more information on what these organisations are and what they do, in the meanwhile, feel free to Google these organisations and/or post a comment regarding them.

This is me saying bye for this week. :)