Oh, the festive season is here- and in this school that is home to so many, this wonderful time of the year, laden with the smells of freshly baked apple-crumble baked to a golden crisp, a potful of warm custard, along with the sight of a 10-foot tall Christmas tree, and glass windows/doors/panels taking upon designs painstakingly designed, stenciled and snow-sprayed. AMSA-IMU, the Christian Fellowship and Intra-Varsity Club collaborated in colossal red-and-gold themed fundraising event, aimed to benefit two beneficiaries, Precious Homes Orphanage and United Learning Centre from where 95 children were invited as guests for the Christmas Lunch.Bringing the Christmas markets to campus, we have Christmas treats and knick-knacks from three booths manned by the semester one AMSA ambassadors, the Dream Bigger Reaching Out Committee, and lastly, the Intra-Varsity Club. The AMSA ambassador booth sold hot chocolate, apple crumble, and sought after the proposition of bring J-Co donuts to the chronically hungry IMU students, along with a “Mini Mailboxes” component where everyone can write a personal letter to the children of Precious Homes Orphanage. The Dream Bigger Reaching Out booth aims to benefit the Burmese refugee children from the United Learning Centre, with the “You Still Want That?” garage sale selling unwanted items from the students and staff of IMU, and also from a local church. With a thrift-shop concept and interesting stuff labeled with price tags, who can resist dropping by? However, booth-head Jaspret Johal admitted to worrying about “not getting good responses, and making a loss instead. But on the first day, the response we got surprised us. Despite some hiccups, everything went so well”. The booth also has the “Constructing Care Packages” component, showcasing bags, wallets and watches bought for the children as presents that were given out to them during the lunch. Lastly, the “We Knit You” booth by the Intra-Varsity Club’s had hand-crocheted merchandises with witty names such as “beef bacon”, “Elsa”, “lemon sherbet” and my person favourite with an Adventure Time reference, “lumpy space princess”. The side-booth that is cleverly alliterated “Care for Christmas Custard Cake?” has vanilla butter cake served with warm custard and an array of different toppings the customer can choose from. As a splendid end to the Christmas fortnight, a lunch, along with an array of dazzling performances, allowing the guests to have a time of merriment and with a (exhale here) reprieve from their usual wake-up-go-to-class-try-not-to-sleep-in-class-eat-zhapfan routine. We also had the opportunity to present the presents to the children! Remember the small bags and posh wallets we have been asking you to contribute to buy for the children? Every child’s eyes lighted up brighter than fairy lights when we distributed their gifts. The buzz of choosing which football team wallet they want was mixed with equal parts gratefulness. A huge thank you for your contributions! All in all everyone, especially the children, left with smiles wider than their filled bellies and the eagerness to usher in Christmas this year.
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In line with this year’s World Mental Health Day, several activities were organised for the IMU Mental Health Day (MHD) with the theme “Living with Schizophrenia.” One of the activities was an exhibition which was held from 16 to 17 October 2014. This exhibition had useful information about schizophrenia, tips on self-care, stress management, nutrition and diet, as well as reliable resources for more information. There was a continuous flow of students dropping by to read the contents of the exhibition daily. They found the information and resources to be very helpful.
Activities to attract students to the exhibition included the “Hearty Search” where participants were directed to walk around the campus to search for five heart shaped-like papers which were exclusive items specially prepared by the MHD committees. Participants who were able to complete the mission received a reward. Another activity that received very encouraging support from the students were the “Happy Foods” booth, a food testing booth set up to distribute food that make people happy to students and staff. These include such food as chocolates, bananas and grapes. The aim was to disseminate knowledge on the importance of the effects certain foods might have on our emotions. Donations for the Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA) were collected at the exhibition. Cookies were also sold at the exhibition to raise funds for MMHA. Bookmarks and cute positive quotes roll, designed by the Mental Health Day committee were also distributed during the exhibition to students and other participants as a resource and encouragement to the IMU community. On 17 October, a forum on ‘Living With Schizophrenia’ was organised by the IMU Counselling Unit together with the Mental Health Day Committee in collaboration with Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA). A total of over 200 participants, including IMU students, students from other universities such as Birmingham City University, HELP International School, HELP University, UTAR, USM and UCSI as well as the caregiver support group, attended this forum. The talks were followed by the Q&A session and a forum discussion on schizophrenia. There were five speakers for the forum discussion: A/Prof Philip George, Dr Nicole Chen who is a counselor and lecturer in IMU, Dr Chee Jiunn Heng who is an IMU alumnus, Dr Eileen Nadarajah who is the committee member of Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA), and Madam Poh Kim Pheng who is the Vice President of MMHA. ‘Medication for Treatment of Schizophrenia’ was presented by A/Prof Philip George, ‘Psychotherapy and Mental Health Support for Patients’ by Dr Nicole Chen, ‘What Young People Should Know about Early Warning Signs’ by Dr Chee, “Psychological Rehabilitation and Community Services for Patient and Caregiver of Schizophrenia” by Dr Eileen, and ‘Road to Recovery for Person with Schizophrenia’ by Madam Poh. The session ended with the prize giving ceremony for a art competition as well as the handing out of certificates to the participants. The forum received many positive feedbacks and encouraging support based on the evaluation forms that were returned. *Mental Health Continuous Medical Education (CME) was organised by AMSA in collaboration with IMU Mental Health Week Committee (Peer Supporter Club).* |