Raise to Rise: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Foundation

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis or J.I.A impacts the lives of millions of children around the world. Anya Raux was diagnosed with J.I.A at the age of eleven and she has been dealing with this illness for over two years. Before the diagnosis, Anya was an active individual. She took part in multiple sports but after that, everything changed. She had to go through an excessive amount of testing and some of which were very painful. Although she had to endure a traumatic year, her family proactively managed her condition in a manner that allowed her to attend school and continue to have a ‘normal’ life. Presently, at the age of thirteen, Anya created a foundation that strives to raise awareness to assist other kids diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Furthermore, she organized a walk and fair to raise funds to buy wheelchairs and other equipment needed for the children. On the 29th of February, a Fundraiser walk took place. It began at the Taj Samudra Hotel and ended at the Airforce Grounds Colombo.

A poster of the event.Our band, Cryptic was asked to perform about a month before the fundraiser was said to happen. However, with our busy schedules, we didn’t begin to practice until two weeks before the fundraiser. Our first practice session comprised of us arguing about which song to sing, we elected to sing only one song due to the very limited time frame. After debating for over two hours, we finally decided to sing “Accidentally in love” by Counting Crows which is a song famous for being in the Shrek movie franchise. We spent the first week of practice figuring out the instruments and getting the song right and during the last week, we spent many hours practicing.

Since this was our second time performing, I was less nervous to sing in front of a crowd. Yet I was under pressure because the fundraiser was scheduled to have about 20 performers including singers, dancers, and professionals like Bathiya and Santhush who are two highly recognized vocalists in Sri Lanka. On the last two days of practice, we started to ponder on if one song was enough. We were supposed to occupy the stage for 8 min but our song was only 3 min long. Subsequently, another practice was filled with debate over whether we should perform another song of which ended with the decision that we should stick to one song.

Then came the day of the fundraiser. My day didn’t start well. I woke up with a painful sore throat which added to my pre-existing fears of going off-key while singing on stage and I had to miss SAISA basketball training that morning because I had to attend soundcheck. At soundcheck, we were sitting at the Airforce Grounds, burning in the scorching heat awaiting our turn to go up on stage and test the equipment. Following soundcheck, we had one last practice. Our guitarist, Arshia could not attend the practice and our other singer, Anelka was running late due to traffic that began because of a man that had jumped off a building and landed on the street. Anelka witnessed the scene and arrived at practice looking traumatized. While we were waiting for Anelka, the other band members and I sang the song over and over again until we started to get sick of it. The two sisters, our drummer, Janindri and pianist, Shehani were arguing whenever we took a break from singing which resulted in a rather awkward practice session for Disara and me. At the end of practice, much of the group were bitter and waiting for the day to end.

During the fundraiser, I was less nervous than expected. The only moment that I felt a wave of fear was when we were walking up onto the stage. On stage, the sight of the crowd made me nervous but it wasn’t as bad as last time. When the music started, I calmed down, I took a deep breath and sang, hoping my sore throat wouldn’t affect my singing. When the song ended, I was hit with a pang of relief. Our song didn’t sound perfect, but it was good. At the end of the day, I was thrilled that I performed on stage again.

Image of the group singing.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

My fear of singing on stage has reduced immensely and although our band faced a heap of challenges throughout the day, we were able to end it with an enjoyable performance. Secondly, having the opportunity to contribute to the J.I.A foundation was fulfilling.

• Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

I am incredibly grateful that I attended the fundraiser. Initially, I along with many others were unaware that children can contract arthritis and the foundation brought this to light and raised awareness to support all the children diagnosed in Sri Lanka. I admire Anya Raux and her efforts. She built the foundation from the ground up and has become an inspiration not only to me but to everyone around her.