International Day to End Obstetric Fistula - A lot of these “holidays” are intended to spread awareness of various diseases. This one is not a disease, but an injury. Obstetric Fistula is an injury that can happen during childbirth. A hole is created between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum during a particularly long or difficult labour. It’s a condition that is preventable or at least treatable in most of the world, but in poorer countries lacking good health care, it is a serious problem. It results in incontinence which can cause these women to be shunned by their societies and can cause severe depression and isolation. In 2003, the United Nations and their partners began a Campaign to End Fistula and they have been making progress, but much more work needs to be done.
Victoria Day – The last Monday before May 25th is a federal Canadian Public Holiday in honor of Queen Victoria's birthday. This has been a holiday for Canada on different days around the 24th of May, (the Queen's actual birthday) since 1845 but was finally put on this Monday format in 1953.
Lucky Penny Day – Pennies are made from copper, or at least they used to be, these days they are mostly zinc with a little bit of copper. Anyway, copper represented the Greek Goddess Venus and the Greeks believed it could protect against evil and attract love. Therefore, finding a penny meant you were protected from evil and might find love soon. That is what makes them lucky. Keep your eyes peeled for pennies today, maybe they still have enough copper in them so that their power still works.
National Taffy Day – Taffy is soft, and chewy and can be many different flavors. See if you can find some today, it would make a great dessert.
World Turtle Day – This day is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue and has been around since 2000. The idea for today is to encourage people to take action to help turtles and tortoises survive. They emerge from their eggs into a very dangerous world where everyone is waiting around for a chance to eat them. You name a critter that is not an herbivore and that’s a critter that would love to have these tiny little babies for an appetizer. So there are groups of people who take it upon themselves to help these turtles and tortoises to at least make it to the water alive where they have a chance at survival.
World Crohn's and Colitis Day - Not to be confused with the World IBD Day back on the 19th, this day was created by Josh Golder in 2007 and is recognized by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. Josh has Crohn's disease and is a prominent figure in the Crohn's community. This day is about bringing together people who have been affected by either disease as well as their friends and family to spread awareness of these diseases.
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