Support children with cancer around the world

I can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to be told that your child has cancer and then discover the treatment costs are far more than you can afford.

For a full year, through World Child Cancer, I am going to be supporting children with cancer, their families, and the medical staff in Ghana, Malawi and Myanmar. I am a qualified counsellor, with experience of working within the field of childhood cancer.

I have been in Ghana for 2 months now and so far, it has been both an incredible experience and a heart-breaking one.

Amongst many things, two issues have really struck me:

• The first is the amount of children who arrive with very advanced cancer, often having been misdiagnosed a number of times.
• The second is the immense financial burden that families of the children face and the impact this has on their lives. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to know your child has cancer but to not have the money to pay for their treatment. I recently met with a young girl who is now receiving palliative care because her mother simply didn’t have the money to pay for her treatment when she was first brought to the hospital a few months ago.

During my year in Ghana, Malawi and Myanmar I will be providing counselling support to children and parents and I will also be providing training and support to the nurses who are working with these families.

This is a voluntary role and whilst I am here I would love to raise some money to help the children and families I will be working with and raise money for World Child Cancer to support the amazing work they do.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any kind contributions you give.