Movember at AUBG




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  • 2014-11-21 21:15:00
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Our fellow student and resident assistant, Stoil Stoilov, took the initiative of bringing the Movember movement to the American University in Bulgaria by turning it into a wellness program. On Nov. 1, AUBG Residence Life & Housing created a Facebook event called “AUBG Movember”. We met Stoil to learn more about it.

[caption id="attachment_23591" align="alignleft" width="126" caption="RA Stoil Stoilov"][/caption]

Stoil shared with AUBG Daily that the first time he heard about the Movember movement was last year, 2013, from Assistant Professor and Balkan Scholar Mark Wollemann, who was one of the few enthusiast to grow a moustache. Stoil liked the initiative and decided to organize this year’s event.

The main reason behind Movember is to raise awareness among people about men’s health issues, such as testicular cancer. The way the initiative works is that men are challenged to grow a moustache for 30 days, during November. By doing this, they spark conversations about their moustaches, and men have the chance to talk about those issues and advertise the importance of supporting their fellow brothers' health.

In addition, the biggest enthusiasts have the chance to create their own profile at movember.com, and show the progress of their moustaches' growth during November. The idea of the site is to gather donations, which are used for improving the lives of those being affected by testicular cancer. Stoil shared that he also has his own profile there. At the end of November, he is going to challenge the guys who participated to share their moustache pictures in the Facebook event and the person who gathers the most likes will receive an award.

[caption id="attachment_23592" align="alignright" width="285" caption="RHD of SKI Stefan Novoselski"][/caption]

Another Movember enthusiast at AUBG this is year is the Residence Hall Director of Skapto I, Stefan Novoselski. “I decided to grow my moustache because I wanted to inspire other people and support my colleague Stoil”, he said. Novoselski admitted that this is the first time he hears about the Movember movement. He is very interested in it, since his first job had to deal with a foundation handling health issues, such as AIDS. The Hall Director said that it takes more will, than effort, to grow a moustache. He shared that friends of his, outside the university, asked him about it, so he had the chance to explain the whole idea of bringing awareness about men’s health.

Since the beginning of the movement in 2003, Movember has become an international event with around 21 countries taking part in. It is successfully achieving its goal of making people face men’s health issues. It inspires not only men, but also women, who support their hairy mates in this journey. From Melbourne, Australia, where the movement started, to Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, AUBGers have the chance to take part in the initiative.