I bet you have all heard of the latest phenomenon, the recent trend of the Ice Bucket Challenge. It became so popular to reach Bill Gates, Oprah, Mark Zuckerberg, Neymar, David Luiz, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and many others, and even Justin Bieber who nominated President Obama for the challenge, but the latter declined pledging to make a donation. So what is it exactly, is it silly and reckless, or meaningful and inspiring?
It has actually begun in 2013-14, also called the "Cold Water Challenge" yet the origin is left unknown. The main task was to either jump in cold water or else you have to donate money for cancer research. At the beginning, it became popular in Northern United States, but now, it's more like everywhere in the social media. It has evolved to become the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, where you either dump a bucket of ice water on your head or donate to the ALS Association in the United States. ALS is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease which causes muscle weakness, and one might eventually lose the ability to initiate and control movements. Some experience difficulty in speaking clearly or swallowing, and later cause stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes. Maybe this is why they chose an ice bucket for a challenge, maybe the message is to show people the excruciating pain one has to go through while fighting this disorder; the only difference is that they experience it for few seconds through dumping iced water. Well, I don't know, this is only my view of it.
This very funny challenge, who some of you might call juvenile, has gathered 15.6 Million Dollars from the 29th of July till the 18th of August, as compared to 1.8Million dollar same time last year. Some celebrities have videotaped themselves dumping the iced water but also donated money, so it's not a matter of either or, they delivered the message but also made donations.
The message here is that this challenge has inspired charities everywhere. For instance, in the UK, the Macmillan Cancer Support adopted the challenge and called it the Macmillan ice bucket challenge. Maybe this challenge will inspire other challenges which might also gain similar popularity in the social media, and eventually help raise money for good causes. One last thing to sadly mention is that, Corey Griffin, a co-inventor of the Ice Bucket Challenge campaign, died in a diving accident on the 16th of August this year at the age of 28. May his soul rest in peace; he died, but his message will live forever...
By : Stephany B.
