This August, we invite you to join us for the Max Global Experience – Uganda to be part of the African patient journey by walking a mile (or 365!) in the shoes of African cancer survivors who often must travel for miles and even days to access treatment for their cancer.
As a team, we’ll walk the symbolic “last mile” at the source of the Nile river. This “last mile” echoes the many roads, steps, and miles we tread to bring cancer treatment to patients around the world – the most significant of which is the last mile, which ensures that the right medication reaches to the right patient at the right time.
Africa in its colorful, splendid, chaos is home to over 1.2 billion people, speaking more than 1,500 languages. We live in climates that range from dry desert to humid jungle, yet despite the richness of the land, most people in Africa find themselves poor with relation to specialized healthcare. The outcomes of cancer patients reflect the deficiency of the current healthcare offering and these poor outcomes contribute greatly to the stigma: that cancer kills.
Where resources are available to treat cancer patients, it is often centralized to one specific center within a country or region. Travel to the specialized centers can take hours, up to days, a journey that takes an emotional, physical, and financial toll. It is this journey, which patients across the continent undertake with dedication and hope, that inspires our 2018 Max Global Experience.
In Uganda, overlooking majestic Lake Victoria, you will experience a connection with not only Africa but with the people that make her heart beat. You’ll hear stories from patients that once undertook journeys into the unknown, and are now leaders guiding others along the same path.
Together, we’ll see sights of beauty and sights of real down to earth life. We’ll share in storytelling, dancing, and more as we introduce you to leaders within our patient community and share in walking the “last mile” by their side at the source of the Nile. You’ll feel the roar of African drums in your blood and you’ll leave carrying a light, knowing that you made a difference not only in your own life but also to the lives of people in Africa who are living with cancer.
In 2017, we climbed a mountain. In 2018, join us to walk the “last mile” in Uganda! We will welcome you as a friend and we will greet you as family.
Cathy Scheepers is a Lead Program Officer for the Africa Region and is based in South Africa.
One of the things I observed at Maputo Central Hospital was the level of comfort and trust between the physician and the patient. It is remarkable because until today the doctors had no effective treatment to give. And yet the patients came back, time after time, for regular check-ups, never losing hope.
Each of us had to dig deep within ourselves to summon the strength, courage, and determination to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, until we reached base camp and then set out in the dark early hours of July23rd for the summit. But we were not alone – we shared a strong connection and solidarity among our team of 23 that in just a few short days grew close through our shared experience.
Launched in 2015, Chai for Cancer USA raises funds to provide treatment access for patients in India. The campaign’s inspiration and namesake come from our own Region Head for South Asia, Viji Venkatesh, who started the original Chai for Cancer campaign in India one year earlier. For the past three years, supporters across the United States….
