I am Shalini, working for The Max Foundation from my home office at Madurai, India. Through my work, I come across a lot of incidents that make me feel satisfied and fulfilled in our work. Allow me to share one such incident.
It was windy evening and I was with a friend going to a nearby vegetable market on a local bus. My friend asked, “What kind of service do you do at The Max Foundation?” So I started sharing in a very loud voice as I rarely get a chance to express my happiness for the work we do!
Suddenly, I noticed a man sitting just opposite to me staring at me. I thought he was annoyed at my loud voice. so I reduced my volume and kept on talking with my friend. While explaining, my eyes went towards the man. Again I noticed he was keenly listening to our conversation.
Finally the stop came! I got down with my friend and took 10 steps.
I heard a voice behind me calling “Madam, madam!” When I turned back I saw the same man calling me. My mind started thinking many things like “Did I miss my purse or mobile on the bus?” He moved towards me. I addressed him, ‘Anna’ means Brother in Tamil. He said “Dear madam! I just got down to thank you for the service you do. I was listening to the conversation and I know The Max Foundation very well. My friend gets medicine with your help.”
He shared his own story of The Max Foundation’s work:
It was 8 years ago, when this stranger was working with Tamilnadu Electricity Board and befriended a work colleague in Madurai.
One day his friend came with a sad news that he had chronic myeloid leukemia.
His friend lost all hope and was very depressed. But after consulting with a physician at Adayar Cancer Center, Chennai, and with the help of The Max Foundation, he was able to access his life-saving treatment. Now, this patient is still in our program and works with his physician to adhere to his medication. It was great to hear that the patient is doing well and is regular in his checkups.
I must say, after the conversation with this stranger, I had goosebumps. I was feeling very proud to be a member of the Max team!
I must mention my special gratitude towards the patient’s friend for getting down from the bus just to thanks us. His story made my day – a day to remember and cherish all my life.
Shalini Subramanian is a Local Program Coordinator in India.
“I saw inspiration when I met him for the first time. That’s the day I decided I want to be a source of inspiration for others.”
Max Family Malaysia celebrated 10 years of service to cancer patients in Malaysia by sharing stories and song, and remembering those that have served as an inspiration to others.
In Latin America, the Maximize Life Campaign has become something like a tradition – a time when each patient organization creates an event or activity of their choice and powers it up for a campaign that takes on a life of its own!
13 patient groups from 11 Latin American countries joined this year’s movement, bringing together patients and caregivers with the purpose of telling the community that cancer is an issue, that ignoring it is not going to make it go away, and that the best approach is to learn about it in order to know what to do about it. From governments to the general public, everybody can get involved in figuring out how to treat cancer patients as members of society and not as a burden.
Surviving cancer in countries that lack the support and care, the word empowerment is not in patients’ dictionaries. But if we could increase the access to treatment and care in these countries, can we turn the tables?
