20S10

We worked with the Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) for our JC2 SL Day project.

Our project was supposed to be a sports activity that would attract people’s attention as we wore the BMDP t-shirt around in public. This would spread greater awareness of BMDP and allow more people to be intrigued by what we were doing. But due to unfortunate circumstances, our event was cancelled and we were made to do the activities on our own with the hashtags, #BMDP and #racetomatch. The project then became one that was more of a social media approach where people could simply click the hashtags to see what BMDP was all about.

Instagram: bmdpswag

Yanis:

For this year's SL Day, my class raised awareness for the Bone Marrow Donation Programme (BMDP). I personally found it very interesting as bone marrow does not receive much attention by the general public in comparison to blood donation. However I learned that bone marrow is of equal importance as it can save lives of patient suffering from leukemia. Through our awareness raising, we managed to get several people to pledge to become bone marrow donors. Overall, I found this year's SL day enriching and eye-opening.

Kimmie:

This experience had been pretty enriching. From knowing little about BMDP to learning about how BMDP works, the duration and the number of people who are in dire need of help got me thinking a lot. I think what we can do for them is to really volunteer ourselves and hopefully be able to make this world a better place by saving a life. It may not be much when a person volunteers but you never know how you are able to help. Also, I think the lady over the zoom call was really informative and she was open to answering and clarifying our doubts. My experience with BMDP will definitely be an unforgettable one.

Josiah:

I felt that working with BMDP was very insightful as it exposed me to something i and many others had not really knows much about before hand.

The lady was detailed and informative with her sharing on bone marrow donations which was an eye opener to the many issues people requiring a bone marrow transplant face and the urgent need for donors. It was also very enjoyable to spend time with my classmates researching on the BMDP and the current situation in Singapore as we were able to learn more and share the information to others through the designs on social media. We were also able to spread awareness to the public by walking around in our orange,black and white t-shirts that represent the BMDP colours which made the walk more meaningful and motivated us to push on despite our tiredness. Overall it was a memorable experience.

Thomas:

During the process of BMDP collaboration, A BMDP volunteer explained to us what BMDP does and how it helps people. Listening to what she said, I certainly learnt much more about BMDP and why the work they do is so important. Some misconceptions that I had such as ‘the operation would be painful’ and that ‘there would be long-term health issues related to donating bone marrow’ were dispelled and I have certainly learned much more on this subject!

Zulekha:

During the zoom sharing by the BMDP representative, I learnt several new and insightful things about the bone marrow donation process. Initially, I was a little afraid to sign up as a bone marrow donor as I thought that the process would be painful. However, after the talk, I was convinced that the donation process would not be as painful as I thought it would be! Overall, I think that my experience partaking in this project has educated me on the significance of garnering more bone marrow donors in our society. Certainly, I am now more motivated to raise awareness and encourage my friends and family members to sign up to become a bone marrow donor too :)