Your voice is something that you may take for granted until, like 48-year-old Erskine Park local Brenda Simmonds, you lose it.
Ms Simmonds has lived in the local area for most of her life but four years ago she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a muscle weakness in her vocal cords which, without medication inhibits her ability to speak.
“I got sick in August 2009 with flu or virus symptoms which included shortness of breath and laryngitis along with extreme fatigue that I really never recovered from,” she said.
“It has been a very long journey getting to where I am now and being on medication that allows me to function nearly as good as before getting sick and lets me communicate better with family and friends.”
She soon discovered, through global website; Voice Matters, that there were other people in the area struggling with a voice disorder so she made contact with them and together they learnt of World Voice Day (WVD).
Ms Simmonds, along with Louise Bale, also from the local area and Lynette White, are now campaigning across Sydney for people to value and celebrate their voices as part of WVD which aims to increase awareness of the “nature, art and science of the human voice” as well as celebrate it.
“We decided that we would try to get the word out there about how important your voice is because you don’t really know what you have got until it’s gone. It’s very hard to go about your daily life without a voice,” Ms Simmonds said.
The three women are encouraging choirs and artists across Sydney to upload videos to Youtube for a WVD Youtube concert that they are coordinating.
The International School of Music, Penrith, are getting on board to help the women advocate for our voices and will be holding a ‘World Voice Week’ in which will be making a video, to be used as part of the online concert.
Ms Simmonds is calling on other local choirs to promote the celebration of voices.
“We already have a number of choirs, soloists and actors advocating with us; both professional and amateurs that will surprise us! Sing Up and Speak Out Sydney because ‘Your Voice Matters’,” she said.
If you are interested in getting involved, visit the facebook site http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Voice-Day-2013-Aus-Speak_up_Sydney/502267609809191
