i did get a breath of fresh air..
a change of scenery.. meeting new people.. experiencing new situations..
yes! u've got it right! i went as a volunteer for the World Osteoporosis Day..
organized by the Osteoporosis Awareness Society Kuala Lumpur, the 3-day event held in Sunway Pyramid was really happening!
hahaha... many many thanks to Dr Winnie for letting us have this chance of being part of all this..
so.. here goes..
that's the chairperson.. Dr Lee giving the opening speech..
launch of the event!
Dr Lee and our VIP -- YBhg Tan Sri Faizah getting their ultrasound bone scan..
this year's theme:: HEALTHY BONES FOR LIFE!
so, u might wanna know.. what exactly do we do as a volunteer??
we assist the public in completing the IOF One-Minute Osteoporosis Risk Test..
explain.. explain.. explain..
we measure their Height and Weight.. and calculate their BMI..
we do a ultrasound bone scan on them..
finally we introduce them to this Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA)..
and.. interpret all the readings, results, etc.. educate them on Osteoporosis.. basic lifestyle changes for healthy bones.. dietary advice on maintaining bone health..
anyway, this part was where i spent most of my time there in the 2 days that i attended..
learned a whole lot about how to talk to the public..
how to convey the message to someone who does not have any knowledge on nutrition..
how to counsel people with different language.. believe or not, i actually had to use hokkien and cantonese too.. besides the basic English, Malay and Chinese..
how to apply what i learned from the textbooks into everyday situations..
what amazed me was the different people that turned up..
i was truly inspired by some of them..
how i hope i would actually be half as active as some of them when i am their age..
there were also some funny experience too..
like the time where a direct sales person came and tried to convince me that his product is better for bone health...
the next time u wanna promote your product..
please don't tell me that your product is "99.99% better absoption than food sources"..
and you might wanna get your facts right, calmodulin is a calcium transporter.. not a form of calcium okayy?? ..
besides, did you know that there's many types of calcium supplements out there? they are not all the same lah!
so this would be the people that i would be up against in future..
these people are speaking ever so convincingly.. and yet, spreading all kinds of food faddism and dietary myths around..
how dangerous would it be for the public, with these direct sales people contaminating them with all kinds of bullshit and non-evidence-based facts..
makes me worry sometimes..
anyway, even though i did get an acute sore throat after the whole event..
nothing some good old herbal tea can't cure..
i wanna say i had a great time..
and yes, i hope to be a part of similar events in future..
oops! did i mention that we are being paid RM100/day?? hahahaha..
picture time!!
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