"Nilai University College's Ribbon Week initiative is a great way to communicate with students. I wish more colleges and universities would follow your example," says Habiba Andul Rahman, programme outreach facilitator for MAKNA. This was the sentiment shared by many of the speakers and NGO representatives at Nilai University College's (Nilai UC) Ribbon Week 2010.
The Ribbon Week campaign was first launched in 2005 and the featured solely on organ donation (green ribbon). But the event has now been expanded to include safe motherhood (white ribbon), Aids/HIV awareness (red ribbon), and breast cancer (pink ribbon).
"We strongly believe in developing our students' soft skills. In this case, it is to give our nursing students some added value by giving them the opportunity to learn more about each of the four ribbons. This project is also borne out of our desire to expand all of our students' horizons and to mould them into useful well-rounded citizens who are aware of their social responsibilities," explains Dato' Dr Sothi Rachagan, Nilai UC Vice President.
Many of the nursing students were actively involved in the organising of the Ribbon Week and were busy manning booths that checked for blood pressure and body mass index. Students form other faculties also visited the exhibitions and attended the various talks and seminars. Many were seen queuing up to sign up as organ donors especially after hearing inspiring talk from Lee Chen Hoe who has been given a second lease on life after receiving a kidney from a cadaveric donor.
Another speaker who came to share her experiences at Nilai UC's Ribbon Week was cancer survivor, Leha Osman. She too believes that such initiatives are imperative in getting students to be more health conscious. "Even though I myself was diagnosed at age 41, I am here to tell students they must be vigilant as cancer does not discriminate and many young people are affected. The Ribbon Week is great way to alert them," she says.
In previous years, the Ribbon Week had been mostly focused on the campus population. But this year, the administrators decided to take the project to a different level by taking the message of the Ribbon Week to a wider audience. Along with help from event sponsor CIMB Foundation, the launch day was open to the general public making it a truly community project.
A carnival atmosphere was created on campus with a flea market and booths demonstrating healthy cooking as well as food carving and presentation by Nilai UC School of Hospitality and Tourism. There were also cultural performances and sketches by Nilai UC nursing students to highlight issues surrounding the four ribbons.
A roadshow encompassing several towns in Negeri Sembilan has also been arranged with the help of CIMB Foundation to bring this health awareness campaign to a wider audience.
"CIMB Foundation firmly supports initiatives that aim to bring this positive lifestyle and health awareness campaigns to the masses. Messages such as safe motherhood are very relevant. As a father of a daughter myself, I believe these initiatives can make a big difference," says Abdul Jalal Mat Dom, Area Retail Manager, CIMB Bank Berhad, who launched the programme alongside Dr Sothi.
