Our Guest Bloggers collaborating on this summit overview are members of The Max Foundation team based in India who led and participated in the Friends of Max 2015 Leadership Summit. They include Shilpi Sirohi Singh, Ashika Naik, Ameya Surve, and Priyanka Kandalgaokar.
In India, the word “Mela” means ‘gathering’ or ‘to meet’ or a ‘fair’. India is a land of fairs and festivals – every month there are festivals held throughout the different regions of India.
Even though there was no festival on the 19th of May in Hyderabad, it was as if the city was in a festive mood on the second day of our the Friends of Max 2015 Leadership Summit (read the recap of our first day here) which was all set up like a Mela or festival. In honor of the day, we adorned the four corners of our venue with colorful balloons and decorations to make it look like a true Mela. However, our Mela was not simply a party. The four corners of the Mela each featured a workshop:
For Friends of Max, volunteers plays a central role in creating awareness of the program, educating patients, and raising funds. At this workshop, participants discussed ways to identify volunteers and strategies to train and retain them.
Caregivers – spouses, siblings, parents, or friends of a patient – face a distinct set of issues, whether they are financial, social, or emotional. For instance, a daughter desperately managing her mother’s treatment may struggle to ensure her education is not affected.
This workshop on caring for caregivers offered ideas and strategies on supporting caregivers with their particular issues. It proved to be a popular topic – many participants felt the workshop provided them with a platform to share their concerns and requested future event sessions focused on further addressing the needs of caregivers.
When people living with cancer are able to advocate for themselves, they are able to effectively communicate an interest, desire, need, or right – and negotiate to resolve it. Effective self-advocates understand individual strengths and needs, can develop personal goals, and learn to recognize legal rights and responsibilities. Leadership Summit participants discussed various health insurance topics, such as disclosure in policy diagnosis, insurance available without medical checkups, and applying for insurance online.
People facing cancer have better health outcomes when their physicians are effective, empathetic communicators. When a patient is able to talk with their doctor, they learn to trust their doctor and are able to advocate their needs. By strengthening this relationship, patients will be more willing to follow their doctor’s instructions, leading to healthier decisions and results. Many factors come together to contribute to building a strong relationship with our physicians which ultimately helps the cancer survivor to build self-confidence.
Overall, the Mela was a great success as a platform for the second day of the Friends of Max 2015 Leadership Summit and participants actively engaged in their workshops. It was an honor to be among such accomplished individuals and to be able to participate in the Workshop Mela. Congratulations to all the participants for their successful contribution to this historic event!
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 28 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope.
Cancer is a life-changing event; not just a medical condition. When cancer undoubtedly affects the patients, it also changes the lives of people around them. Having cancer may change patients’ priorities, causing them to make different life choices.
I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to raise a family of six with a minimum educational background, as a sole provider for the family. I have the privilege of working with so many patients in Cambodia, I get to hear different story, life experiences. Every story is unique. Every day, I am….
Being a patient or I better call myself and others as a Spartan, someone who is fighting for something each and every day.” –Thilip Kumar Ragavan
We first met Thilip Kumar Ragavan in May 2014. He was a young chronic myeloid leukemia Spartan in the patient workshop at Hospital Ampang and was newly diagnosed with CML at that time, but the smile never left his face. Bright, vibrant, energetic, and positive – that’s Thilip.
