Guest Writer, ASHIC Staff
Thank you for the opportunity to post on this forum! This is a wonderful site created by enterprising teenagers looking to raise awareness for childhood cancer in Bangladesh, and we are grateful for the spotlight on our work.
For today's post, we wanted to talk about a special event that we observe on annual basis. Focusing on cancer warriors is a big part of the mission at ASHIC. As a member of the Childhood Cancer International initiative, which is an association of parent run organizations around the globe, ASHIC celebrates International Childhood Cancer Day on February 15th, as a way to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to express support for children, adolescents and parents living with the realities of cancer.
Over the years, many school children have participated in rallies, human chains or helped to organize concerts, leaflet distribution drives, or have gone to ASHIC facilities to spend time with the children. It didn't matter how much money was actually raised. What mattered was that voices were raised to uphold the needs of children living with cancer. Kids came and stood next to other kids in need of help.
Part of this year's program was held at the ASHIC Shelter, where it was the resident kids at the Shelter who performed for the adults attending the session! Feeling ill from being on different parts of their treatment cycles, they still became their own advocates as they broke out in songs and poems in the program designed to raise awareness for their disease.
At the end of the program, they thanked the founders of ASHIC for their contributions in childhood cancer in Bangladesh. This mutual love between those who serve and those who are served is a beautiful testament to how much can be done if intentions are pure. During its tenure, ASHIC has directly contributed to improving survival rates in Bangladesh from less than 5% in 1993 to closer to 40% today.
Through the awareness campaigns run across the globe such as the Kids 4 Love and Kids 4 Kids Art Campaigns, more people have come to know about ASHIC. We thank Saira for continuing to work on this initiative as it is so important to keep voices alive to be the speaker for those who cannot speak loudly.