The turnout may have been smaller than hoped for but the Capira 5km fun run to raise cancer awareness last Saturday at the Civic Centre was vocal and clear in its message – to test early for cancer.
Capira (Cancer Awareness and Prevention in Rural Areas) – an NPO started by director Bonelwa Nogqaza – and colleague, project coordinator Anelita Tukela, about 12 months ago, is on a mission to do the best it can to rid society of certain stigmas associated with cancer. With a qualification in the social sciences, Noqqaza who hails from Mqanduli and Tukela noticed how rural communities treated cancer like a “death sentence” and hence decided to embark on starting up an NPO to find ways of using information and research initiatives to allay some fears around cancer.
“We noticed how especially family members had died of the disease,” said Nogqaza. “In most cases the cancer had already spread and it was too late to do anything. So we saw a gap to provide information and education in terms of what we could do for our people in terms of being an information provider around cancer.”
Feeling helpless at that stage with seeing so many rural communities afflicted by cancer, they realised that a well-equipped professional organisation would be a better way to “get the message out to people that cancer is not necessarily a death sentence”.
“We are stationed in clinics. For example, here in Port Alfred we are based at Inkwenkezi Clinic where we talk about the stages, testing early for cancer and point the way forward to people who come and see us. So giving township folk information is the first thing we do and encourage them to do testing because you can never know for sure what’s happening inside your body until you test,” says Nogqaza. They also have a branch located in Mqanduli.
Asking people to test for cancer might sound hackneyed but Nogqaza says, “When we drum home the testing mandate to test early for cancer, we stand a good chance of them getting help. It then makes it easier for health professionals to remove cancer if diagnosed early enough.”
She says they are involved more than just raising awareness about the disease.
“When we do identify someone as having cancer we do home visits and we also call in social support services; in this way we are just giving hope to people.
“There’s really not enough being done to really remove the stigma in our country. People don’t want to come out when they have cancer; and it’s stuck in their minds. We are now trying to give those who have been diagnosed hope. We have also started an initiative where we get people who are in remission to give testimonies about their experiences to others. And we also trying to give those who have been diagnosed, hope,” added Nogqaza.
“People must remember, it doesn’t mean that if you are diagnosed with it (cancer) you will necessarily die of it.”
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, December 5, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
