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. :)