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AS you know this is International Breast Cancer Awareness month, it's the season we ask you to get involved once again.

For more than five seasons the World Beat Fitness Centre (WBFC) has been raising funds for Think Pink, to help with prevention and early detection of breast cancer in Bahrain. To date, WBFC has collected more than BD 15,000 for this great cause.

It is a cause which has become even more important to me since my diagnosis and successful treatment in 2006. I know the importance of early detection. I suspect that each and every one of you also knows someone who has been affected by this disease. Thankfully, with early detection there are more and more stories with happy outcomes.

We are now in the final stages of planning our big event for the year, and the Centre is buzzing with activity.

Our 5th annual Think Pink Open Day, to be held on Saturday, brings the community together in the spirit of health, wellness and awareness.

Participants take part in a variety of classes offered at the centre all morning for a donation fee of BD10; ladies, BD5; teens, and no charge for the supervised activities for children under 12.

All proceeds raised go to the fund for the Think Pink initiative, which will help finance a new MRI machine at Salmaniya Hospital for early cancer detection. In addition, the event usually draws in a variety of corporate sponsors who help make the event a success, most notably SAPIN who created the customised Think Pink cans filled with chocolate-covered dates in 2007.

They will be sold at WBFC, Al Osra Supermarket and other local businesses. The cans alone have raised almost BD8,000 over the past several years, so please lookout for the now famous pink ribbon can!

As we at World Beat gear up for this noble cause, there are a few things you can do to help us.

Give us your time: Help us sell Think Pink cans, raise sponsors or simply join us on the Open Day with friends and family

Contribute generously for this cause: Buy tickets or Think Pink cans from the WBFC reception.

We hope you will be able to attend. It truly is a fun day out for all. If you have any questions or want to help on the day, please contact us NOW to be part of this fun and noble cause.

Jane Goodwin WBFC Director,

Janabiya.

www.worldbeatfitness.com (telephone: 17612576)

See Leisure Guide - Centre's origami cranes extravaganza: P11

I AM a regular reader of GulfWeekly. I love the articles and find the Spot the Squirtle competition very entertaining.

Dr Jayant Bapat,

SMC,

Bahrain.

MANY thanks to GulfWeekly reporter Asma Salman for her help explaining my role to the public. Please also extend my thanks to photographer Jayson De Leon.

Eman Tammam

Senior Occupational Therapist, SMC