So it is officially MOnday and I thought I would write a blog on the MOvember experience with an emphasis on the letters MO.
I am an online instructor with Good Learning Anywhere and Sioux Hudson Literacy Council. I teach adult literacy courses to Aboriginal learners in rural and reMOte communities across Ontario. And over the last year, sometimes gazing into the MOonlight, I was wondering how we can start talking MOre about health literacy with our learners. And then it hit me, like a MOose hitting a car; we need to support MOvember.
One fall MOring, Good MO’s Anywhere was created. We created our team not only to support Prostate Cancer Canada but also to increase health literacy among our Aboriginal learners in Ontario. The objective was to MOtivate our male learners to grow a MO (MOustache) to engage them and make this a MOnumental learning experience for men’s health.
Leading up to the start of MOvember, I was really MOtivated. There were a few MOans from other Bros out there. They weren’t sure whether they wanted to grow a MOustache. Some weren’t sure they could grow a MO. Some were afraid of being MOcked. But really, it was like climbing a small MOlehill; people really felt that this was an important topic aMOng Aboriginal communities and they were glad to support the MO for MOvember. So we started to MObilize some Bros and Sistas to launch the campaign.
So as the MOnth progressed and we were MOtoring along with the campaign, the weird stares from the community turned into conversations. “Hey Warren – are you growing the MO for MOvember? I heard about that. Tell me MOre. It seems to be MOre popular this year.” I started to feel less of a Moron with my MO. And to see/hear about learners growing the MO really kept me in a good MOod.
After growing the MO, I certainly won’t be getting any MOdelling contracts. I would say that my MO is rather MOdest compared to some of the other MO’s I have seen out there. However, once the MO started to come in thick, I was starting to get the MOjo and feeling MOst proud of my MO.
I am also especially proud of all the Bro’s and Sistas that helped with the campaign. Thanks for all the MOral support and the generous donations. I would like to follow up this blog with pictures of all the MO’s….including the fake MOustaches on the Sistas. Please email me a picture of your MO’s by next MOnday and I will put them together in a follow up blog on MOvember – warren@siouxhudsonliteracy.com