My wonderful teacher facilitator hosted  a warm celebration to thank us four chairs and the whole group for our successful Movember. I feel an immense amount of gratitude to have joined this service in grade 9, and to have worked with a group of amazing change-makers.

Cancer awareness has been instrumental in teaching me about how cancer awareness is a global issue that ties everyone together. Cancer is a disease that has the potential to affect anyone, even those who cannot bear the costs. As a result, it creates a social divide, between those who have resources for treatment, and those who must deal with it until it takes over. Therefore, I feel honoured to play a role in conducting this event, as it reminds me of how this is important to people that I may not meet, but I know exist.  (LO6)

The ethical aspect of conducting this event and supporting this cause has also become clearer as I approach my last year in cancer awareness. We talk in class about the stigma surrounding cancer, and the idea of blaming individuals who have gotten cancer by zooming into their lifestyle habits. It’s taught me a lot about how to approach and interact with people who have been either directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Through Movember, I hope to play my part in eradicating the stigma of cancer and revealing the emotional impact cancer can have on an individual (lo7)

My last Movember was an incredible success! Having raised more than 8000 dollars, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be part of such an important event that supports an amazing cause and organisation.

This year, aside from co-leading the event, I also focused on handing over the service to the grade 11 chairs, who were so organised and responsive in conducting their first Movember. Regardless, I come away from my last Movember with a better awareness of my strengths and weaknesses, as well as the importance of the cause I’m fighting for.

I got the opportunity to delegate roles again, but this time, based on the new restrictions COVID posed for our event. I learned more about how to delegate roles effectively, such that people are assigned jobs that they enjoy but can also improve by bringing in new ideas. This was important when I was delegating where students would bring donation bags and sandwich boards (as you can see in the photo below) to areas within the school. I had to choose it based on how many people would be there, and whether students could effectively promote our cause to that audience. In the end, I thought that students could present it to people in their own grade, so that the level of familiarity could help in a deeper engagement and awareness of this event (LO3 (LO1)

Additionally, I come away with an understanding of how cancer awareness is not just a service event, but it’s a global issue that ties everyone together. Cancer is a disease that has the potential to affect anyone, even those who cannot bear the costs. As a result, it creates a social divide, between those who have resources for treatment, and those who must deal with it until it takes over. Therefore, I feel honoured to play a role in conducting this event, as it reminds me of how this is important to people that I may not meet, but I know exist.  (LO6)

The ethical aspect of conducting this event and supporting this cause has also become clearer as I approach my last year in cancer awareness. We talk in class about the stigma surrounding cancer, and the idea of blaming individuals who have gotten cancer by zooming into their lifestyle habits. It’s taught me a lot about how to approach and interact with people who have been either directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Through Movember, I hope to play my part in eradicating the stigma of cancer and revealing the emotional impact cancer can have on an individual (lo7)

Leading up to MOVEMBER 2020, the lack of clarity and certainty led majority of our GC team, including the service team members, to be apprehensive of our GC event’s success. Especially with the cancellation of our bake sale, due to COVID-19, we were unsure as to how we can create and maximise the impact we make on our campus and the contributions we send to our parter in Mumbai, India–the CPAA.  The idea of going virtual was discussed and implemented, as we designed an online donation system where UWC members could scan a QR code and choose a MOVEMBER participant to donate to/vote for. This idea was incredibly useful, as it not only solved the problem of social distancing/hygenic concerns during COVID, but it allowed for another, more accessible medium of donation for students who may not have brought cash to school. As vice chair, I learnt how to adapt and adjust to my circumstances and persevere despite the challenges that may have surfaced (LO4). This was significantly helpful, as it led up to raise nearly $6000, compared to the US$2557.22 which was raised in 2018. The fact that our situation contained more restriction but didn’t limit our ability to contribute to our cause shows the dedication and endurance displayed during times of uncertainty. 

Connecting onto my previous point about online donation systems, this year, we expanded our method of collecting donations. We collected funds not only with blue donation bags, but also through individual participant pledge cards and the online CIMS learning platform. This platforms were accessible to the whole UWC community. To avoid congregating in one area due to social distancing, we designed large boards with the participants’ picture and walked around with the corresponding blue donation bags to ask people for any contributions during lunch. We would divide the boards up amongst our group, and then split up and walk around the canteen (staying within grade level bubbles). Compared to last year’s MOVEMBER event, I was required to do much more individual interaction with students in the canteen, often explaining the donation process, the CPAA’s purpose, and our aim as a GC, aside from requesting donations every Friday of November. This was initially a challenge to me, as the idea of asking strangers for donations was intimidating. But eventually, I began developing my conversation and persuasion skills. I became better at explaining the cause and aim of our GC event in a context that entailed the global significance of our issue, and the idea of conversing with strangers became one that interested and motivated me (LO2) This was an example of how what was initially a challenge, became a chance for me to develop a new skill, which will help me in the future in similar scenarios.  

 

On the last friday of November, the last day of our event, we were told that another GC, Tiger Watch GC, was to conduct their event on that same Friday lunch. From a moral lense, however important our event may be, we had to ensure that other GCs and service groups in the school had an equal opportunity to represent themselves and their cause, even though Movember is our main event of the year (LO7). After consulting with our GC members and some service team officers, we decided to conduct our donation-collection rounds in the morning of that Friday, during mentor time. There were some factors that changed the way we would have been able to collect money compared to the past 3 Fridays.  However, our last donation collection was exceptionally successful. By visiting individual mentor classes, people were more inclined to listen instead of continue chatting with their friends, and more people ended up donating per class than we expected.

This event allowed me to actively acknowledge and execute a form of impact to fight against a global issue, which is the lack of access to cancer treatment for cancer patients in India. (LO6) I was able to organise and participate in an event that raised money that will be directed to the cause of this global concern. This action that I, along with the rest of my GC team and service office members, has helped to not only spread awareness about this global issue and its significance, but fight against it. To conclude, this MOVEMBER event was definitely one to remember, and I’m grateful to be able to work with a group that adjusted to the last-minute changes and supported each other throughout!

We are in the midst of our annual event, Movember. There is constant contribution from various teams in our GC, communications working on the posters, finance calculating how much we make each week. As we approach our 2nd week of Movember, we are adding other mechanisms to help amplify our event. For example, an online donation system that will be disseminated through CIMS (online school community platform).

 

 

Adding on to our means of communication for this event, we are also active on the E-brief, as we are posting weekly messages containing the necessary information about donating, voting, and the aim of our GC/background on CPAA.

In terms of advertising, we have taken a slightly different approach this year. We wanted to include the community a bit more, so we took our idea on community stories (mentioned in the last reflection) and brought it to life by creating a google form where people can submit their own personal connection/stories surrounding cancer, so that we could bring the community closer together and enhance the awareness surround our cause.

We also have posters around school with QR codes that make it easier for people to sign up and vote/donate. We have decided to take advantage of the increased dependence on technology by having an online donation system set up.  Collaboration played a significant role in this aspect, since we had the help of the service office to set up the online donation system, as well as the collaboration with various Head of Grade’s to post information about MOVEMBER on grade level OLP pages (LO5).

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the posters we have stuck up around school to increase awareness about our event and provide a background about our GC and the CPAA

 

 

 

 

We are also working on customising masks that have moustaches/cancer-awareness-themed objects on them. We are communicating with the school’s food catering company, Sodexo, to help create food items (eg:cookies)with a similar theme. We have also decided to post a leaderboard in the plaza, where everyone can see, of the leading participants to not just increase the presence of our event, but also spark competition amongst the community so people are incentivised to donate more to support their peers. This influx of new ideas and systems will hopefully have an impact on our fundraising amounts in the following week. All these new ideas that are being incorporated into our event are enhancing our progress towards our end goal in terms of money raised and awareness brought up within the school community. While I am are continuing to engage with the global issue of inequality and health (specifically for cancer patients in Mumbai) (LO6) I, along with my team, am launching new ideas that are developed and adjusted from previous ones to maximise our results, which is an example of how this event is helping me to initiate and plan this experience better after every week (LO3)

 

 

 

My new role as Vice chair in the Cancer awareness GC has definitely shown me the list of tasks and responsibilities of a vice chair. The transition from being communications officer to being vice chair was initially a challenge. However, I was able to smoothen that transition by using some of the skills that I had as a communications officer, and developing them further (example : coordinating between 2 parties, such as the GC and the service office). In this process, I also had to develop my skills as a leader, specifically qualities such as the ability to delegate roles, adapting to new circumstances, and lastly, my self awareness about my influence and capacity to make change. So what was initially a challenging start to a process, became an opportunity to develop universally applicable leadership skills(LO2)

I feel quite honoured to be involved and play an integral role in the this group. Personally, cancer has affected 2 family members of mine, and being involved with this GC has taught me that we should not take for granted the fact that treatment is an option. I also have a strong interest in public healthcare, and the issue of lack of healthcare provision in a developing country is an issue that I feel should be addressed immediately. With cancer, it affects people of all demographics, but it marginalises people below the poverty line, which I strongly believe is an indicator that there needs to be a source of awareness and funding for these marginalised communities. By playing a leadership role in this GC, I know that I am taking action towards a cause that I personally believe in, which allows me to play an active role in engaging with a global issue. Although our funds may be directed to a single organisation, the awareness aspect of our GC is what covers the global significance, and emphasises the scale to which our contributions can impact the world. (LO6)

In our GC, our main event is in the beginning of the year, so there is a lot of planning in various aspects (such as advocacy, finance) that require the collaboration between the chair and vice chair, along with the service office members and GC supervisor. In the beginning weeks of our GC this year, we have to plan diligently to ensure we’re meeting the required deadlines in order to hold our Movember event. We held a voting session to allocate leadership roles within our GC, such as communications officer, finance, etc, to allow the spread of tasks amongst a large number of people. This has already helped us to work more efficiently, and it makes sure that every member has a role and contribution to our aims and goals as a GC This process is highly beneficial, especially since later on, when we begin our MOVEMBER event, committees and individuals within our team who have a specific role will be able to collaborate and get work done more efficiently (LO5).

Going back to my new role as vice chair, which has created a more thorough sense of what goes on behind a fundraising event, the forms and permission slips, as well as the logistical and financial planning beforehand is now familiar to me, as I oversee the documents and help to fill them to ensure a smooth event this year. An example would be the College fundraising approval form. This was one of the steps that I, along with the chair, had to complete in order to begin the planning process for our MOVEMBER 2020 event. Other aspects such as logistics, which included filling out a timeline ahead of our event to set deadlines and goals for each week, or communications, which involved planning how to advertise our event this year and how to connect with our community better to create a larger impact. In general, I was able to grasp a better understanding as to what it takes to plan and initiate an fundraising event (LO3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two images above are the ideas we had about how we would conduct our event this year. Both ideas were still raw, but had a good amount of planning and we believed that their implementation would maximise our impact this year considering the numerous restrictions put into place.