SCAGO- Not Your Average NGO
WE ARE EDUCATING FOR LIFE
Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario also known as SCAGO is not your average NGO. It started on June 14th, 2005 as Seed of Life Philanthropic Organization in memory of a brave young man- Sunday Afolabi. It has significantly contributed to the health and wellbeing of many Canadians tirelessly educating the community about Sickle Cell Anemia and its subsequent poverty; focusing more on how the incidences of these ailments could be reduced within the At- Risk communities.

Sickle Cell Anemia is a severe genetic blood disorder that affects the red blood cells. It causes the red blood cells to become hard and sickle shaped which makes it difficult for the blood cells to travel through the small blood vessels. While normal red blood cells last for up to 120 days, the red blood cells of a sickle cell patient last for only 10 to 20 days.

Some of the complications of this disorder include Acute Chest Syndrome, Serious Respiratory Infections, Aplastic Crisis, Painful Abdominal & Joint Crisis, Stroke, Blindness, Hearing loss, Hematuria, Painful Erections in males (Priapism), damage to vital organs of the body including Heart, Liver, Kidney & Spleen, and premature death among others.


SCAGO has various programs to reach the public some of which are speaking in Churches, Mosques, community events, organizing forums and seminars. It distributes its information leaflets at Medical offices, libraries, community centers and schools. It has established a scholarship fund to help youths who are living with Sickle Cell Anemia. A total of 10 youths has benefitted from the Sunday Afolabi scholarship grant to date. We encourage more community groups to sponsor this worthy scholarship grant.

SCAGO partnered with Jodal Health Care in 2008 to establish the Idera Emergency Grant for sickle cell patients or their caregivers in dire need. WE thank Jodal Health for stepping up to this initiative and helping us create the IDERA EMERGENCY GRANT*.

 Like many other issues affecting the community, Sickle Cell Anemia could be prevented. This could be achieved through Genotype testing which is a painless procedure that will determine if someone has this disorder or carries its trait.

Unfortunately it is not a routine test and must be requested at the doctor’s clinic. Knowing your genotype and seeking genetic counseling will help you make informed decision before procreation. This is the way out of not passing this disorder to the future generations. It is the way of saving our children the pain, agony, complications and premature death that comes with Sickle Cell Anemia.

Beliefs on Sickle Cell Anemia Eradication

• We believe that education is the cure to ignorance.
• We believe that even though there is no cure for Sickle Cell Anemia at this point, educating the populace with the goal of reducing the number of children born with this disease is a must.
• We believe in protecting our children and our future against the pain and agony of Sickle Cell Anemia
  through outreach campaigns and programs.
• We believe that less number of children and eventually less adults will have to live with this deadly disease if we keep on educating those who are in the procreating stage of their lives about Genes and Genotype testing.

POVERTY
Poverty is a disease that has ruined many lives and destroyed many homes. Yet most of the time, it is due to the lack of access to the right information or positive role models that could help to propel someone forward in their quest to succeed that has grounded many to the poverty state. It is also imperative to know that Sickle Cell Disease sometimes work hand in hand with Poverty. With many parents/patients missing many days’/weeks’ work days, the reason is definitely not far-fetched.

SCAGO'S INITIATIVE ON POVERTY
Currently SCAGO organizes a yearly community summit where employers and educators among other groups present to the general community ways of improving educational and financial well being. Many leaders have found this summit a must as they learn new ideas that would help their followers and members.

Beliefs on Poverty Eradication

• We believe that poverty could be reduced within our community if we educate people on how to set their minds on great things and use the right tools to achieve them.
• We believe that many are poor in the African-Canadian Community not because they chose to but because of lack of needed tools and information on how to succeed
• We believe that many could leave the poverty cycle and attain their higher heights.

Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario, formerly known as Seed of Life Philanthropic Organization was established in 2005 in memory of a brave young man, Mr. Sunday Afolabi, a successful engineer who succumbed to the complications of SCD at the tender age of 29.

Mission

• To reduce the number of children born with Sickle Cell Disease by raising more awareness through education within the community at large
  
• To facilitate better management and care of patients living with the disease by providing better education about the disease to the medical, patient and community groups.
  
• To support those living with the disease by establishing support groups, emergency funds, scholarships, seminars, educational session and advocating for them with the Government

Programs and activities that we offer

1. Patient Visitation Program: A very important program ensuring that capable and smiling volunteers visit the patients when they are sick. Because a crisis admission could last for weeks, quite often family members are very stressed staying in the hospital with their loved ones day in day out; many also have to miss a great number of work days. With SCAGO volunteers, parents and family members are relieved and given the needed break.

2. Parents Network: In a quest to ensure parents are being educated and supported while taking care of their own children, SCAGO's Parents Support Network allows the parents to meet monthly and talk about different issues that are crucial to them. Many look forward to this constructive meetings where they relieve their stress by educating and socializing with one another

3. Youth Initiative: The young people are peculiar and need to be encouraged to come together and discuss issues peculiar to them especially issues around transition from pediatric to adult care. (Age group is 17-25 years)

4. Learning for Life Seminars: A monthly gathering where a Sickle Cell Specialist comes to educate the patients and their family members once a month. It encourages interaction between the medical and the patient community.

5. Scholarship Grant: This is for those in post secondary institution. SCAGO administers the Sunday Afolabi Scholarship grant, and the Sholape Animashawun Nursing grant for young people who are admitted to post secondary institutions

6. Laptop Initiative: Some young people living with Sickle Cell disease have dexterity problems. In the light of this, the Sunday Afolabi laptop initiative is created to offer these young people essential laptops to aid them in their quest to excel academically

7. Idera Emergency Grant: IDERA Emergency Grant is created to help families in dire financial need whose children is living with Sickle Cell Disease

8. Yearly Summit: Co- organizes a yearly medical Conference to better educate the Medical and the Allied Health workers on the disease so as to propel a better understanding & management of Sickle Cell Disease in the absence of viable cure. A better understanding by the medical team definitely means better care of the patients and great relief to parents

9. Advocacy: SCAGO advocates and speaks on behalf of the patient community to the Ministry of health and others law makers.

10. SCAGO's speakers visit various organizations and provide the groups with more education and awareness around this disease with a quest to increase more testing by the populace which will help to reduce the number of births born with the disease.

11. SCAGO gives genetic counselling to couples in other to ensure that are tested and are better informed about Sickle Cell Disease.

12. SCAGO works with the hospitals to ensure better knowledge and continual research on Sickle Cell Disease within the Medical professionals.

 

Members are the people that connect the organization to the community. They are the backbone of the organization and many a times those that volunteer and help educate the community. Being a member of SCAGO also gives you the opportunity to meet other people and be a part of this great family. Members will have voting rights and will receive the Financial Report of the Organization. Kindly indicate if an e-report or a mail-in report is desired.

Individual Membership fee: $30/year. Corporate/family Membership fee : $50/year

Membership form could be filled and submitted on line or snail mailed to the address below.

Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario
Mailing/Office Address
235-415 Oakdale Rd.
North York, ON
M3N 1W7

Phone
GTA: 416-745-4267
Simcoe County: 705-719-2750

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