Cancer survivors cultivate hope

British Columbia cancer survivor Terri Wingham describes herself as a cultivator of hope.

Armed with a quote from Bertrand Russell which preaches that “extreme hopes are born from extreme misery” Wingham is on a mission to use volunteering as a healing mechanism for cancer survivors.

“My brush with cancer taught me that life is short and we all deserve a chance to write a new story”, she writes.

Wingham is giving survivors like her a chance at a fresh start by travelling across the world and soaking up different cultures.

Wingham, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer at age 30, founded the Fresh Chapter Alliance Foundation last year to help cancer survivors connect worldwide.

She recently organized a trip to India for twelve fellow cancer survivors, who were matched with local community projects.

“ From February 16 – March 2, 2013 the Fresh Chapter Alliance Foundation took twelve cancer survivors from across North America on a customized two-week volunteer trip to New Delhi, India. We called this pilot program #Delhi2013 and were joined by film-maker Mark Halliday. We have joined forces and created Fresh Chapter Productions”

While in India, each of the #Delhi2013 Dozen was matched with a local community project and spent two weeks giving of his or her time and energy to people on the other side of the world. 

Whether helping wash floors at Mother Teresa’s Home For the Dying & The Destitute, participating in English lessons at a school for children living in one of Delhi’s many depressed areas, or providing an extra set of hands to serve meals at daycares and special needs schools, each survivor not only acted as a volunteer, but also as a Cancer Ambassador in communities where cancer is often veiled in shame, secrecy, and stigma.

“As a way to build connections and shed light on some of the challenges facing the global cancer community, we partnered with CanSupport, a Delhi based organization providing support for cancer patients and their families. While in New Delhi, we brought together survivors from both sides of the globe and had a first-hand opportunity to experience that cancer knows no language or race,” Wingham’s website states.

Writing her story, Wingham says; 

“In January of 2011, I wondered if I would ever see the sun again. My boyfriend had broken up with me three weeks before Christmas, everyone kept asking me if I was “excited” about my upcoming final reconstruction surgery (post breast cancer induced double mastectomy), my best friend and I had a falling out because she felt like I had become a negative and sad person, and I was terrified of telling my boss that I didn’t want to go back to my profession as a Recruitment Consultant at a leading technology agency. I felt completely lost and alone.

Searching for inspiration, I decided to quit my six-figure job and felt that first spark of hope ignite when I set off in the spring of 2011 on a six-week volunteer program to Cape Town with Cross-Cultural Solutions. My experience working with children at an underfunded daycare in the Township of Langa changed me forever. As soon as I arrived, I Crashed Into Love and in all of my interactions; I had constant reminders that We Can Only Be Human Together

After my time in Africa, I came back to Vancouver, packed up my belongings, and gave notice on my apartment. I didn’t have an exact plan, but I started with a trip around North America to talk about my Big Hairy Audacious Dream to create a foundation to help other cancer survivors volunteer internationally as a way of moving forward after cancer.”

One of the participants who went to Delhi, Deirdre writes in her blog: “We are Northern Americans representing many religions/spiritual beliefs, sexual orientations, marital/relationship and financial statuses, employment, kind of cancers, time in/out of treatment, travel experience, ages, both genders and complex relationships to the cancer experience… Each of us is making our way into post cancer life. The path is fraught with peril, emotional complexity, and surges of hope laced with joy. Each small victory is a big triumph. Most of us could not have imagined having the strength or courage to venture past our lives made small by erosion. For the first time, I felt a sense of camaraderie with other survivors.”

 For more information please go to  http://www.afreshchapter.com/.