Cancer is beatable and curable – that was the message delivered to a group of young and old women who attended a cancer awareness event organised by Afrika Tikkun in Mfuleni on Friday October 19.
The event aimed to educate women about the disease and address the many myths still associated with it.
Survivors shared their powerful and uplifting testimonies of how they overcame the cancer and candles were lit in remembrance of those who had succumbed to the disease.
Joyce Nonkosi Mayisela said she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the beginning of 2017.
Ms Mayisela said her womb was then removed. She said she was not shocked when the doctors told she had cancer because both her parents and grandmother had died from it.
But she said she was glad it was caught at an early stage.
The 59 year old mother of six said she was concerned that she might not live long but she made a pact with herself that she needed to be strong for the sake of her children.
Ms Mayisela said it has been nearly a year since she has defeated the deadly and vicious disease. She said her parents died because it was still considered taboo to have the disease.
Ms Mayisela said such events played a critical role in educating and changing the mindset of people about this disease.
“I told myself that I will fight it. I did not go to traditional healers. Cancer is not a death sentence. People need to take care of their bodies. My family played a vital role in supporting me. I feel proud to say that I am a cancer survivor. I defeated cancer and you could do the same,” she said.
Afrika Tikkun marketing co-ordinator, Shirley Tshwale, said October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month so they felt it was important to host such an event to educate the community.
She said there were still a number of people who lacked knowledge and information about this disease.
However, she said the most important message they wanted to get across was that women needed to visit clinics and get pap smears done.
She said cancer was curable if it was found in time.
She said they discovered that lots of people hid this disease when they were diagnosed and that was dangerous as it slowly killed them.
Dietitian Hanlie Jordaan urged people to follow a healthy lifestyle to avoid cancer.
She said eating junk food was unhealthy. She also warned people to refrain from drinking lots of sugary cool drinks. Tumeleng Qwaka said she learnt a lot at the event and applauded the organisers. She said she learnt how to eat a good diet and live a healthy lifestyle.