Club “Hanoi Resilient Women”: 5 years of loving support for women with cancer
VWU Vice President, Ton Ngoc Hanh and Sunflower Award Winners Attending the event were Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) Vice President Ton Ngoc Hanh, Hanoi WU’s President Le Kim Anh and the club members.
More than 5 years ago, the Hanoi Women with Breast Cancer Support Group, predecessor of the Club “Hanoi Resilient Women”, was established. Experiencing initial difficulties in funding, facilities and limited health of members, with the spirit of solidarity and resilience the Club has been increasingly developing and gathering 570 members with breast cancer patients in 13 district and inter-area groups in Hanoi.
During the past time, the Club, run by the 40 Volunteers Team, has organized many cultural, artistic, and sports exchange activities to encourage members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fund-raising efforts are also conducted to support members, especially those in difficult circumstances or serious illnesses. Additionally, the Club issued the Sunflower Award to encourage women who are living with the disease for 10 years or over, setting up Facebook and Zalo pages for members to exchange and share treatment experiences and doctors’ instructions.
VWU Vice President, Ton Ngoc Hanh speaks at the ceremony
Speaking at the event, Ms. Hanh expresses her pleasure to see that the members are healthy, optimistic, cheerful and organize meaningful movement activities. They not only overcome themselves and their illnesses, but also support fellow patients in the club. The VWU hopes to accompany them in this difficult time through major programs on gender equality and proposing policies as well to screen for common cancers in the community, such as cervical cancer.
According to statistics from 13 district groups, currently there are around 100 club members dealing with serious illnesses. Although facing difficulties, the club becomes its members’ mental support from its inception.
