News: Spoken Word Poetry contest for the Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta

Date: Deadline for entries on Tuesday, June 1

Attention all Writers of Spoken Word Poetry, Hip-Hop and Rap Genres:

In conjunction with June 19th – Sickle Cell Disease World Day at UN – and to Mark 2010 – 100th year since the discovery of Sickle Cell Disease, The Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta sponsors a competition that taps into your talent…

The organizers will like you to compose a Spoken Word Piece that will serve as an education tool:

1)       To Educate the Community about Sickle Cell Disease

2)       To Fund-raise for Research and Education

3)       To Promote Safe Blood Donation in the Community

Prizes will be offered for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places*.

Contest Closes 12:00 Midnight MTS June 1, 2010.

Please submit your entries to scfoa@shaw.ca or jwalrond@ualberta.ca

Contest rules:

The piece should be at least 1 minute long.

It should be on a video or audio tape.

Please no profanity.

Items must be in by 12:00 Midnight MTS June 1, 2010.

Winner will be announced by June 8, 2010. 

The decisions of the judges will be final.

* Please note that The Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta will reserve the rights to these works for future promotions

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is the Sickle Cell disease?

Acording to Wikipedia, Sickle-cell disease, or sickle-cell anemia (SCD or SCA) or drepanocytosis, is a genetic life-long blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells’ flexibility and results in a risk of various complications. The sickling occurs because of a mutation in the haemoglobin gene. Life expectancy is shortened, with studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 in males and 48 in females.

Sickle-cell disease, usually presenting in childhood, occurs more commonly in people (or their descendants) from parts of tropical and sub-tropical regions where malaria is or was common. One-third of all indigenous inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa carry the gene, because in areas where malaria is common, there is a survival value in carrying only a single sickle-cell gene (sickle cell trait). Those with only one of the two alleles of the sickle-cell disease are more resistant to malaria, since the infestation of the malaria plasmodium is halted by the sickling of the cells which it infests.

more info here

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