22nd September is a day conceived and ear-marked by Cancer Patients Aid Association since the past 14 years to bring cheer, happiness and smiles to cancer patients all over the country. This annual event is a gesture from the association to show its support and care to thousands of cancer patients and their families. It's CPAA's way of making a difference in the fight against cancer.

At the most basic level, it is a human expression to say that we care. Looking deeper however, it's what gives CPAA the dynamism and scope to engage itself in the very real issues of cancer - Treatment; the prohibitive costs of cancer drugs; the lack of awareness; the endemic proportions of Head & Neck cancers. Rose Day in that sense is the bridge from hapless to hopeful...

Snapshots of events held for Rose Day:

MUMBAI:

• 16th September: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan & Akshay Kumar launched Rose Day 2010 at St. Andrew's Auditorium, Bandra. They danced with the brave childhood cancer patients and gave them words of encouragement. It was indeed a day to remember for all the patients and their relatives present. Aishwarya & Akshay also adopted 20 cancer patients with a pledge to support their treatment.

• 17th September: Roses were distributed at Gareeb Nawaz, Noori Musafirkhana , Prince Aly Khan and a musical programme for patients was held at Sion Hospital.

• 18th September: Roses were distributed at Masina Hospital, Nana Palkar followed by a movie show at St. Jude's Hospital.

• 19th September: A multi-cultural program was organised for the patients at Aasha Cancer Hospital, Thane and rose and gifts were distributed at Hinduja Hospital.

• 20th September: Roses were distributed at Cama and Parsi General Hospital folllowed by a Bhajan Programme at Nanavati Hospital and a musical Programme at Boman Dhabar Center.

• 21st September: A magic and dance program was organised for the patients at Nair Hospital followed by the Radio One programme at Wadia Hospital.

• 22nd September: School children put together a musical program for the inmates of Shanti Avedana Hospice and distribution of bouquets at 14 different hospitals. Over a 100 patients and staff of the Rehabilitation Centre were treated to a feast, complete with Chocolate Cake. The icing on the cake was gifts distributed to them, personally, by Mrs. Rekha Sapru (Hon. Joint Secretary- CPAA).
   

• 23rd September: A Rose Day celebration was organised for cancer patients at ONGC wherein 80 of their employees were felicitated.

• 23rd September: Roses were distributed at ACTREC, Kharghar.

• 24th September: Radio One organised a program at Tata Memorial Hospital, followed by a school event by Dadar Youth Assembly School at Raheja Hospital and rose distribution at Ernest Borges Home.

• Several schools and colleges of Mumbai, viz, St. Pauls High School, Fazlani L`Academie Global, Dadar Parsee Youth Assembly High School (DPYA), Avabai Framji Petit Girls High School, Rustomjee International, Bhatia High School, SIES College etc actively participated in the Rose day celebrations this year. The students' fundraising drive collected over Rs. 10 lakh. This year a 'Rose Day Warrior' trophy for the highest individual collection was awarded to Mohit Chandra (DPYA School) and Simron Sethia (Fazlani L`Academie Global), while St. Paul's School bagged the highest school collection trophy. Students of Rustomjee, DPYA and Pragati Kendra visited patients at the S L Raheja and Mhaskar Hospitals and entertained them with their dance performance.

• 94.3 Radio One and Artist Aloud partnered with CPAA for a week long celebration at different cancer treatment centres bringing joy and happiness into the lives of cancer patients through music. ..more pictures >>

DELHI:
• 21st September: CPAA, in partnership with Imperial Hotel, held a grand celebration for over 60 childhood cancer patients and their parents. Shweta Bachchan, renowned designer Manish Arora and model Amanpreet Wahi joined the children in the celebration. A lively dance and music program was organised by the hotel team, in which the children participated actively. The head chef created a special menu for the children, while Mr. Vijay Wanchoo, VP and GM, Imperial Hotel, distributed gifts.

• 22nd September: The Lions Club joined hands with CPAA to celebrate Rose Day at the Pediatric Ward of AIIMS hospital. The members visited the patients and gave gifts and monetary contribution to CPAA to help needy patients with chemotherapy. Shweta Bachchan was present to celebrate the big day with CPAA. She conveyed video messages from Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan especially for the children and spent a lot of time distributing gifts and interacting with the children and their parents.

PUNE:

This year, the activities in Pune were spread over an entire week. Visits were made to all the hospitals treating cancer, viz. Deenanath Mangeshkar, Sahyadri, Jehangir, Inlaks and Budhrani, Cipla Palliative Care centre, Sassoon, Command and Ruby Hall. A rose and gift packets were distributed amongst the patients.

An entertainment programme was organised by CPAA on 20th September at the Sun N Sand Hotel, which was attended by a large number of cancer patients and their families.

October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 • Pinktober Celebrations: CPAA partnered with Hard Rock Cafe to organise Breast Cancer Awareness events in Delhi (11th Oct), Pune (12th Oct), Bangalore (25th Oct), Hyderabad (26th Oct) and Mumbai (27th Oct). During the month, Hard Rock Cafe sold pink coloured drinks, sold commemorative products and organised dedicated shows with bands to help raise funds for CPAA. Women from all walks of life were present to support the cause and also gain useful information on breast cancer. Later all the invitees were welcomed for a sumptuous lunch.

Ms. Nisha Jamvwal and actress Bhagyashree and singer Shibani Kashyap were the Chief Guests at the Mumbai event. The awareness presentation at the Delhi event was conducted by Dr. Deepali Kapoor (Indraprasth Apollo Hospital) and Geetika Ganju, a well known TV anchor and a supporter of CPAA anchored the programme. The program in Hyderabad was conducted by NATCO Pharma on behalf of CPAA. The guest speaker was Dr Senthil Rajappa (Medical Oncologist, Indo-American Cancer Centre) and Mrs. Shailaja Lakshman (wife of Indian cricketer V V S Lakshman) was the celebrity present. Dr. Anupama Mane (Onco-surgeon, Ruby Hall Clinic) conducted the awareness lecture at Hard Rock, Pune. The guests gained important information regarding breast cancer through an enjoyable afternoon. more pictures >>

• UWC supports CPAA through Breast Cancer Week: The United World College, Singapore had a very successful breast cancer awareness week in October, during which they sold breast cancer pins, had a memorial board on which students could write personal messages, hung informative posters around school and handed out bandanas on which students could write their thoughts about cancer. The event which had the most impact however was the 'head shave'. 5 girls and 3 boys shaved their heads for cancer. Everyone was amazed by their bravery and they are definitely admired in the school community. Their hair has been donated to an organisation in Singapore and will be used to make wigs. Sponsors donated more than S$15,000 and donations are still being collected. All the money raised will be donated to CPAA. In the past, too UWC have adopted patients for a year. more pictures >>

• Survivor’s Day at Priya and Turquoise Cottage, New Delhi: For the second consecutive year Avon Breast Cancer Foundation joined hands with CPAA to organise a special ‘Day Out’ program for the Breast Cancer survivors on 28th October. 20 such women were invited for the movie ‘Jhootha He Sahi’ at Priya (Vasant Kunj) followed by a sumptuous lunch at Turquoise Cottage. They interacted with each other and shared their personal experiences. It was nice to see them have such a positive frame of mind despite the difficult times, which they had been through.

CPAA's Rehabilitation Centre, under the able leadership of Mrs. Manju Gupta has added another feather to its cap. Taj Group of Hotels has invited her along with other prestigious institutions [Benares Hindu University (BHU), Krishnamurthi Foundation, India (KFI), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)] to partner in a comprehensive project for the overall upliftment of Sarai Mohana Village in Varanasi area. CPAA will partner with Taj for the Girl Child All Round Development Program (GCARD). This will involve training of the entire female population of the village in local art based trades like tailoring silk/brocade items, pottery, candle-making etc. The objective is to ensure that eventually, these women are independently able to produce items of high quality which can be bought by Taj Hotels and sold in the open market. Mrs Gupta will also be involved in the selection and training of the trainers who will work in the village.

• The 2nd National Conference on Tobacco Control in India was held at Tata Memorial Hospital from 23-25 September 2010. CPAA's Piali Syam, Dr. Shital Raval and Dr. Shubha Maudgal presented papers on 'Role of Celebrities in Motivating Tobacco Control', 'Study on tobacco use and awareness amongst marginalised children' and 'Tactics Used by Tobacco Industry for Advertising' in Mumbai respectively. Additionally, Dr. Raval chaired a session.

• Dr. Shubha Maudgal attended a week long (4- 8th October) non-residential training course for NGOs in media handling skills organised by BBC World Service Trust. The training was led by an experienced BBC trainer accompanied by a local trainer and focused on Tobacco control. The programme was designed to help NGOs reach the appropriate audience to publicize their work and, on the other hand, to sensitize media representatives on the issues relating to tobacco and cancer in India.

• ORG-IMS hosted the Yellow Heart on 8th October. 20 childhood cancer patients had a wonderful time at the ORG-IMS office at Saki Vihar Road. The children created a collage on the topic given by the Yellow Heart organisers and also wrote essays. Employees were introduced to patients and encouraged to raise funds for their treatment. Subsequently, a Box Cricket event was held on the 23rd October. Over Rs. 2.5 lakh were raised.

• On the occasion of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (9th October), CPAA's Halima Aurangabadkar, Veena Shukla and Savita Bhatia took part in a walk from Shivaji Park to Tata Memorial Hospital, organised by their Palliative Care Department.

• International Chefs Day was celebrated at Sky Gourmet Andheri on 20th October. Chefs of the foremost 5-star hotels from all over the country gathered for this celebration. Through this program they collected funds for CPAA’s Rose Day project of installing water coolers for patients at Sion Hospital and the patient registration center at the head office.

• 21 - 24th October: CPAA's Dr. Shubha Maudgal attended the 42nd Annual SIOP Conference in Boston. She gave an oral presentation and presented a poster on 'Emotional Difficulties Experienced by Childhood Cancer Patients' Siblings'. She also chaired a session.

• 25th October: CPAA's Susmita Mitra helped organise a focus group to study the menopausal symptoms of Breast cancer patients with Dr. Nutan Tanna of N W London Hospitals NHS Trust and Dr. Duru Shah, past President, Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI).

• CPAA stall at the NGO exhibition at Glaxo SmithKline: The diagnostic department set up a stall of products made by cancer patients of our Rehabilitation Centre at the NGO Exhibition at GlaxoSmithKline, Head Office on 29^th October.

Delhi Branch

Marathon organized by TOI and ONGC: CPAA was invited to participate in the Marathon organized on 4th October starting from Dhayanchand Stadium. 50 of our registered patients participated in the walk. Urmila Mantondkar, Ishant Sharma and Ashwini Ponanppa were the guests of honor. The aim of this walk was to create awareness about depletion of resources and to encourage people to use them judiciously.
 

Forthcoming Events:

CPAA is conducting a 3-day Psycho-Oncology Training Workshop for those interested in volunteering or counselling cancer patients in Gurgaon and Delhi. Dates: December 1-3, 2010, Timing: 10.00 am - 4.00 pm Venue: The Den, The Laburnum Complex, Sushant Lok, A Block, Gurgaon 122002, Fees: Rs.1000/- for the 3 day program.

To find out more and register, please contact Smita Khante at 98188-25614 (or) Hamsini Shivakumar at 98103-07943 (or) Sabeeha Shah at 98993-35547

Deepsikha Cancer Care Foundation is a non-profit voluntary organization trying to add meaning to the lives of cancer patients through conjoined efforts. After nearly two years of sustained efforts Deepsikha was formally registered as a trust under the Indian Trust Act, 1961. The activities of Deepsikha range from providing financial assistance, consulting doctors, receiving patients at railway stations and airports all over India, assistance in registration, providing manpower and organizing blood for patients and last but not the least, helping and supporting relatives to withstand the last journey of their near and dear ones.

To raise funds for their efforts, they have organised the 'Airtel Deepsikha Half Marathon' on 27th November and a 'Concert for Cancer Care' on 28th November at State Art Gallery, Guwahati from 6 am. Please show your support and attend in large numbers.
Connect on: www.deepsikha.org
Mrinmoyee Baruah / Debashish Sharma: 09819744446, 09004006078

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