Montana Institute supports charity against a rare disease

Every year, the student choir of the Montana Institute on the Zugerberg performs a concert to celebrate the past school year and the coming summer holidays. This year however, the concert also doubled as a charity event for the choir’s adopted charity, the RETT Cure Research Institute.

The Rett syndrome is a rare neurological genetic mutation that affects brain development, especially in girls. Children appear healthy at birth, but the disease is diagnosed within the first months of a child’s life and leads to drastic regression, resulting in the child losing the ability to walk, speak, or to even sit and stand unsupported. Three sisters of Montana students suffer from this syndrome, and it was their mother, Julia Ramlogan, who founded the RETT Cure Research Institute in the hope of finding a cure for her daughter before it is too late. The disease is not yet curable.

RETT awareness week with primary school children at the Montana Zugerberg Institute.
Participants in the RETT awareness month          Photos: David Biedert Photography AG /David Biedert

In collaboration with the Head of Music, Guido Bissig, and the Head of Charity, Anneke Jaeger, who is a Swiss Gymnasium Grade 6 student, the Montana Institute has now dedicated a student choir concert to the "Rett Cure Research Institute", which researches cures for this disease, according to a press release from the Montana Institute. In addition, the institute organised several activities during the month of October to raise awareness about the disease, including a comprehensive informative event on the 1st of October 2023 as part of 'Rett Awareness Month'.

The Charity Committee of the Montana institute consists of 16- to 18-year-old students, and organises several charity projects every year.

More information about the disease and the awareness projects can be found on https://www.rett-cure.ch/