My Personal Project - Nada Wilson

A problem shared, is a problem halved; is a phrase we often hear. It was only when I started my personal project however, that I came to deeply resonate with its meaning and implement it into my daily life.

My name is Nada Wilson, and I am a 16-year old girl who suffers from guttate and plaque psoriasis. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease whereby your body believes that its skin is a foreign substance and poses a threat to its health. Subsequently, the body attacks the skin cells, killing them and causing them to shed every few days. Comparatively, a person without this condition sheds their skin around once a month. The skin of a psoriasis sufferer therefore inevitably builds ups with inflamed red dead skin cell patches known as plaques. Hence, my journey has been multifaceted and a learning experience to say the least. With influence from other celebrities with skin related autoimmune conditions, such as Cara Delevingne, Kim Kardashian and Winnie Harlow, inspiring me along the whole journey, my personal project went from an uncertainty to a reality.

My condition undoubtedly sparked a new passion for me, I suddenly saw a need to help others around me who were also dealing with the implications of this condition. My humanitarian desire was bursting at the seams as I sought to fulfil my dream of making a positive impact in the psoriasis community and learning simultaneously in the process. After deciding that I wished to explore fairness and development, I came up with the perfect solution to my dilemma. I would produce gift boxes compiled of all the products in which have given me much needed relief from my condition and donate them to fellow psoriasis sufferers. The only issue was, how was I to afford such products? After a quick realisation, I approached every company in which I had personally used and pleaded with them to assist in my endeavour. In a mind-blowing turn of events, every company I requested responded. Ranging from multinational corporations such as Coles, who supplied me with $100 worth of $5 vouchers; and Grahams Natural Alternatives, who single handedly gave me an incredibly generous donation of over $2000 worth of shampoos, conditioners and creams; to national companies such Bickfords who donated one litre cherry juice bottles and Billy Goat soap who donated the most luxurious soaps to my cause. My voice was being heard and I was already beginning to establish relationships within the community that I had never though possible.

When we think of an Oasis, Psoriasis is not often a word we associate with it. In fact, usually they could be deemed as direct contradictions to one and other but I wanted to change this idea one small gift box at a time. My personal connection to the project meant that I put my heart and soul into every detail of its construction and the name Psoriasis Oasis gave me a sense of empowerment, knowing that my one kind gesture would bring a little peace of paradise to those whom I know have dealt with something that is so often ignored as a superficial ailment. When in reality, psoriasis is much more than that; it’s often instead a drain of positivity and self-confidence. But enough is enough; and that is why the focus of my Personal Project is to restore a sense of normality to fellow sufferers to bring to them the feelings of happiness one might feel on a tropical island, right in the comfort of their own home. I’ve come to learn that my project defies the stereotypes of this condition just through its name and that was the first step in my journey as a humanitarian. At its near completion, my product is now being donated all around the country through my interaction with Facebook and Instagram users accessing my Psoriasis Oasis accounts; teaching me how to communicate with total strangers on a shared issue. Again, the relationships that I have developed as a result of this will be remembered forever; meeting with the clients has solidified the importance of my endeavour and proven that Psoriasis needs to be discussed frequently because it doesn’t discriminate.