The World of Women (WOW) Film Fair 2015 awards night was held to honor a select group of women who are considered high achievers in five different categories: “Humanitarian of the Year”, “Business Leader of the Year”, “Media Personality of the Year”, “Sports Leader of the Year”, and “Rising Talent Leader of the Year”.
Desirée Vlekken, Founder and CEO of 4get-me-not, the first and only non-profit organization in the UAE helping raise awareness on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), won the well-deserved “Humanitarian of the Year” award. Desirée belongs to a community of people touched by AD, and her personal involvement with an AD sufferer, her own father, mobilized the path to creating 4get-me-not.org so that others would have the proper information and support that she did not have. As a 15-year resident of Dubai, she felt that giving back to the community through 4get-me-not was the right thing to do.
Established in 2012, 4get-me-not has been a driving force behind community initiatives and has strong volunteer support from friends and pre-medical students that bring energy and spark inspiration for a thorny medical issue in the region where sufferers themselves are subject to social stigma.
Alzheimer’s is one of those underexposed diseases and among the toughest to prevent, identify and cure. Still, 4get-me-not.org’s continuous drive for public awareness on Alzheimer’s has encouraged families to seek assessment, reduce isolation and misunderstanding felt by caregivers, and has helped link people in need to accurate information, resources and services.
WOW Middle East event is curated by Straight Street Media; a UAE-based global media company, established by leading Australian TV news Anchor and Author, Hermoine Maura.
