29 August 2017: Talk on Cancer Patient by Children Cancer Foundation
After Shi En had settled down well at the centre, we had wanted to visit the cancer patients at the KKH. However, due to infection control, we were not able to make a trip to the hospital to interact with them. Therefore, we contacted the Children Cancer Foundation on how we may proceed with our project. They volunteered to send a person down to talk to the children about cancer. On 29th August 2017, we had Ms Serene from Children Cancer Foundation to talk to children about cancer. Some of the topics she talked about included facts about cancer, how it affects a person mentally and physically, and what one can do to help cancer patients. The children were enlightened after this talk.
Conversation that occurred during the talk
Ms Serene: Does cancer cause a person to lose hair?
Children: Yes!
Ms Serene: No. It is the drug that flows in the drip to the body that cause the hair loss.
Rachel turns to class teacher and asks… Rachel: Is it Shi En hair become like that because of this?
Teacher: Yes. Ms Serene: Do you think the hair will grow back?
Children: Yes!
The talk was informative for the children and they learnt about how they can care for cancer patients and how they may contribute. Moreover, Ms Serene also talked about the children’s attempt to have a fundraising to contribute to the Children Cancer Foundation. She also informed them that children like Ben (character from the story) will benefit from the funds collected.
After the talk, Ms Serene had a short chat with the teacher and Principal. She asked if it would be helpful if the social worker, who had worked with Shi En, visited the school to share about Shi En’s condition and how the friends may help Shi En cope better at school. We were happy to hear that idea and were excited to have the social worker at the centre.
Challenges Faced:
After the welcome party, we faced some difficulties in carrying out the visitation to KKH/Children’s Cancer Foundation. We were unable to go down as they wanted to reduce spread of infection. We substituted the visit with a fund raising activity which involved the parents at the centre.
Reflection:
Overall, we met the objective of creating awareness about cancer patients in young children. The children demonstrated our core values through the whole project. We hope to continue exposing the children to various forms of giving.
