January 2015

Calling All B’s—Be a Part of the Generation IX Project!!

Laurie Kelley January 25, 2015

Back
in July, I blogged about a new adventure opportunity called the Generation IX
Project. A mentorship program for teens and young adults with hemophilia B,
this program kicked off in October with an adventure retreat outside of
Portland, Oregon (my kind of fun!).
From
the looks of it, the guys had a great time! Check out the video  from the weekend.  

The
next program is scheduled for June 9–14, 2015, and the Coalition for Hemophilia
B is now accepting applications. If you are between the ages of 14 and 30 and
have hemophilia B, don’t miss your chance to be part of this great experience! The
program is proudly sponsored by Emergent BioSolutions.
Download
the application for mentors or for teen participants for your age group and send it to Kim Phelan at hemob@ix.netcom.com at
the Coalition for Hemophilia B to reserve your spot today.
More about the Generation IX Project
The
Generation IX Project is an adventure education program created by the
Coalition for Hemophilia B with the support of Emergent BioSolutions. Led by
Pat “Big Dog” Torrey and his company, GutMonkey, this national
mentoring program for young adults and teens with hemophilia B provides
participants the opportunity to learn tangible mentoring skills through
experiential learning in an unforgettable environment.
Check
out what participants had to say about Generation IX:

“I really enjoyed being able to meet a group of complete strangers
with hemophilia B, and at the end of the program feeling like I have known them
for much longer than a week.”


“Even though we came from different places, we came together and
supported strangers as if we knew them our entire lives.”

“The part that will
stick with me is knowing to trust the people around me.”
For
more information about the Generation IX Project, check out the Generation IX
Project Facebook page.
To learn more about how Emergent BioSolutions is making a difference
for people living with hemophilia B, register for updates at www.ebsi.com/hemphiliab.
This announcement was sponsored by Emergent BioSolutions.


Great Book I Just Read

Surviving Survival: The Art and Science
of Resilience [Kindle]

Laurence Gonzales


Perfect book to accompany those Gen IX adventurists! An expert in studying the field of survival, Gonzales examines through a variety of real-life tragedies, disasters and situations, why some people survive, the strategies they use and more importantly, how they continued their lives despite the PTSD and other after effects. How the brain is biologically altered after a trauma, and what successful survivors share in common by way of thinking, personality, life strategies. Four/five stars!

Baxter Sponsors 2015 Education Advantage Scholarships

Laurie Kelley January 18, 2015

So good health is probably the best thing in the world; when you are overall healthy, even having hemophilia, you can handle life so much better. 
The second best thing? An education! Below is an announcement about a way to help you get your education, from Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
_____________________________________________________________________
For the sixth consecutive year, Baxter Healthcare
Corporation is sponsoring the Education
Advantage scholarship program to help eligible members of the hemophilia
community offset the costs of higher education, advance their careers, and
pursue their dreams.
The scholarship program is open to people with
hemophilia A or B (factor VIII or IX deficiency), including those with
inhibitors (factor VIII or IX deficiency), regardless of which brand of factor
treatment they use.
The program provides financial aid for a wide
variety of educational options, including four-year bachelor’s degrees,
associate’s degrees, technical/vocational certifications, as well as the GED
Test. Scholarships will be awarded up to:
·       College/University
– $7,000 renewable for up the three additional years
·       Community
College/Technical School: $1,000 – renewable up to one additional year
·       GED: $150
(one time only)

To date, 211 scholarships that include 113 renewals have been awarded, totaling
more than
$1.1 million. The Education Advantage
program is supported financially by Baxter and administered by Scholarship
America, the nation’s leading independent scholarship program
administrator.  Scholarship America
reviews all scholarship applications, determines eligibility, and selects the
scholarship recipients. Baxter has no input into the selection of recipients
Education
Advantage scholarship program applications are available as at https://www.scholarsapply.org/baxteredge,
or by calling Scholarship America at 877-544-3018, or by emailing baxter@scholarshipamerica.org.

Applicants can apply online, download the application and mail it in, or
request a paper application. 
Completed applications for scholarship renewals are due to Scholarship
America by February 15, 2015, while the deadline for new applications is April
15, 2015.


To get started now, or for more information on the Education Advantage scholarship program,
including eligibility requirements, visit www.scholarshipamerica.org/baxteredge,
call Scholarship America at
877-544-3018, or send an email to baxter@scholarshipamerica.org.
Visit www.nava.baxter.com
to read about previous recipients of Education
Advantage scholarships and receive tips about preparing for college.
Nava.baxter.com also highlights other resources offered by Baxter to help
patients advance their lives, focusing on career development, health
management, and community involvement.

Baxter is a registered trademark of Baxter International Inc.  USBS/MG1/14-0980   January
2015 

This blog was sponsored by Baxter Healthcare Corporation.

Excellent Book I Just Read

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration [Kindle]
by David Roberts

Incredible true story of Australian Douglas Mawson, who led the Australian Antarctic Expedition from 1911-1913, during the so-called Heroic Age of Antarctic Expedition. Leading one group of three that set out to measure and scientifically observe new territory in the Antarctic, Mawson lost one comrade to a glacier; the other slowly and painfully died while he and Mawson tried to return to base camp. Left alone, with limited food and no dogs, in a land where the wind routinely blows at 65 mph, and the temperature is 40° below, Mawson, starving, somehow survives 31 days and single-handedly finds his way back to his waiting teammates. It is an amazing, incredible story of survival, full of suffering beyond measure, but I’d say one of the greatest story of survival in the history of exploration. Roberts takes unneccesary swipes at Lennard Bickel’s excellent book, Mawson’s Will, which helped the world outside of Australia first get to know this remarkable man and his unforgettable story. Four/five stars.

New Year Blessings: Dreams Can Come True!

Laurie Kelley January 10, 2015

When it’s a new year, we tend to make
goals, lists, things we want to accomplish. I love doing this myself, and I love
bringing other’s goals to fruition. That’s pretty much our aim at Save One
Life, to assess needs, meet needs, and offer people with bleeding disorders who
live in the most difficult of circumstances hope and even a new beginning.
I recall meeting Jitendra, age 14, in
India in November 2012. I met a group of mothers and fathers and their children
on the trip in Bhubaneswar, in Orissa, one of the poorest states in India. It
is rich in history though, with so many ancient temples, deemed World Heritage
sites.
Though I met many families that day, one
truly stood out. A father with a driven, intense, haunted look in his eyes. We
enrolled his son, Jitendra, and I asked the father his story: what had happened
to them, what was the greatest challenge they faced? Usually we hear that there
is no factor, they have little money, the child misses school. This father’s
story was different.
He was living in a tent with Jitendra, as
a homeless person, as floods had washed away their home. (And by home, I mean
probably a thatched roof hut. They live 150 kilometers away from the hospital.
The father works on a farm, and must travel far away form his only son each day.
I was stirred by the intense look on his face; his eyes seemed to bore into me.

When I asked him what one thing would
make your life easier, expecting him to say free factor, he said emphatically
and without hesitation: a vegetable selling business, to open a roadside
vendorship, to be near his son. Awesome
answer. Needs 50,000 rupees ($1,000) to start. That is an enormous amount of
money for him, about one year’s salary.
Can you imagine if someone gave you one
year’s salary, and you were homeless? The temptation is always there to drink,
have fun, squander it. Not this guy. He used the money Save One Life gave him from its Micro-Enterprise Grant program to open the stand, and
earn his own living. Now he is near his son and doesn’t have to be away on the
farm working. What a Happy new year for him!
And even better? The Orissa government,
one of the poorest in India, is buying factor. Not a miracle, but the result of
intense lobbying by the hemophilia chapter there and its leadership—a young man
with hemophilia named Chitta.
If they can achieve those new year goals,
imagine what we here in the US can do!
Viit www.saveonelife.org to learn how you can help the poor with hemophilia!
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