The modern world can at times pose to be a mystery, go to west or the Europe, in the month of November and you might stop still at the sight of men sporting moustaches. Well, it is not an uncommon phenomenon, but even those who once gave a sharp nod of denial to the question of a moustache. Why you ask? It is an attempt to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other cancers that affect males, and associated charities.
[Read: Early Signs of Prostate Cancer]
The Idea:
The Movember charity event that runs a website is aimed at, “changing the face of men’s health”, was initially an idea that was started by a group of young men in Adelaide, South Australia who originated the name "Movember" and the idea of growing moustaches for charity during the month of November. The group started with 80 men and aimed to raise money for the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals through selling T-shirts in what they termed "Growing whiskers for whiskers", and the rest is history. The committee however, remains uninvolved with the wider Movember movement and claims to have coined the term "Movember" in 1999.
The Mo Bros:
The men who register on the Movember website, start the 1st of November with a clean shaven face, and leave it for the rest of month, and then go on to raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo growing efforts. The Mo Bros are supported by the women in their lives who are known as Mo Sistas and go on to wax, trim and groom their way to get a stylised moustache that would symbolise their support for men’s health. The Mo Bros try to influence people with words and actions that would help to spread the message publicly or even privately, and in turn dedicate the entire month by becoming walking, talking billboards.
Finally at the end of the month, they either host their own Movember party or attend the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by Movember, for Movember.
The Growth:
The movement which began in Melbourne, Australia, has grown to become a massive movement inspiring more than 1.9 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
In 2011, over 854,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world got on board, raising 124 million (Australian US Dollars).
You can visit the website www.movember.com and find out for yourself about this enchanting new idea. On the starting page you are asked to click on your part of the world to see the Movember chapter there, unfortunately India does not stand on that list, but can we make it happen here too? Who is up for some Rajasthani and Punjabi whiskers next year? Isn’t moustache a very Indian thing? We could surely make some difference with those!
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