As part of the cervical cancer campaign month, The Chayil Foundation, in collaboration with You Inspire Foundation, organised a free cervical screening for widows of the Dodowa community on January 27, 2024, to create awareness about the disease.
In an interview with The Sikaman Times, Founder of the foundation, Eileen Ninson, stated that cervical cancer is more prevalent in women, hence the need to create awareness for the widows of Dodowa and help prevent it.
According to her, there is a lack of cervical cancer sensitization in the Dodowa community, as about 98% of the widows between the ages of 30-65 had never done a pap smear to know the condition of their cervices.
“One of the areas we focus on is health. Looking at the women we are focusing on now, it is important that we ensure that they are in a healthy state of mind to be able to contribute their quota to society,” she observed.
Mrs. Ninson disclosed that out of the 51 women screened, few of them had infections; however, they were given prescriptions for their treatment to avoid deterioration.
On follow-up support activities for participating individuals, she intimated that support will be given to those whose laboratory results show traces of cervical cancer to help alleviate it.
“We have another organisation indicating that they will support us if there is any issue with somebody who has cancer.”
“We will also seek sponsorship because the cost of doing a pap smear is expensive, so once we are able to get other people and other organisations to partner with us and give us some free test kits, it will go a long way towards helping us,” she added.
Mrs. Ninson also highlighted a series of events like mental health campaigns, vocational and skills training, microfinance soft loans for business creation, and expansion that are underway for the widows of the Dodowa community to ensure economic stability.
“Because we’ve taken Dodowa as the pilot project, we want to make sure that before we leave them, at least a couple of them have stable jobs or a stable source of income so that we leave them knowing that they can thrive.”
She has therefore called on individuals, NGOs, and corporate organisations to support them as they seek to ensure that the widows of the Dodowa community have a source of livelihood and a good, healthy life to avoid being burdens in society.
The Chayil Foundation is a non-governmental organisation dedicated, among other things, to addressing the challenges faced by widows in the developing world, where they often encounter violations of their rights.
It also seeks to empower widows and create a more equitable society by focusing on disinheritance, discrimination, and harmful practices, including sexual violence and degrading rites.
