Picture: Tres amigos, by Ben Rimmer

On August 18, 2008, a post was published in this blog inviting sufferers to take part in the launching of our Raising Awareness Campaign. We united as an international community from many countries of the world to tell our first-hand accounts with the creation of our Anthology. We wrote essays, short stories, and poems. We also included quotes written by sufferers in forums with their consent.

This project forged a bond among the participants in our community. We embarked on this journey and we inspired each other as our respective "floodgates" were opened and the concealed was revealed. What a beautiful way to set in motion a campaign that blossomed and has continued to grow these past five years. This campaign has reached so many around the world, including national organizations, physicians, sufferers and their families.

Not everyone has been inspired to express themselves with the written word, some have drawn pictures and others sung songs in videos for the community to listen to. I would like to share with you a poem, which personifies how this project united our community. The first half of each verse was written by one sufferer, which inspired another sufferer to write the second half, and it then became the Mission Statement of this movement:

Mission Statement


I hope that as a community, we maintain a high level of unity and enthusiasm to support and help each other through this experience and to work hard at making it possible for our children and grandchildren to lead happy lives.

María

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