Our team observed Pinktober with two very special guests, Sister Helen Hukula from A Well Woman’s Clinic and Mrs. Janet Yaki, a cancer survivor and founder of the PNG Stoma Association. Both guests were invited to talk to our staff to learn more about the causes and different forms of cancer and to share their testimonies of their personal battles with cancer.
Sister Helen Hukula runs her own clinic, A Well Woman’s Clinic, located in North Waigani (Port Moresby) and has been running for over a decade now. Sister Helen’s clinic conducts physical examinations as well as collecting tissue samples for lab tests for early detection of cancer in the breast and cervix. Since 2011, A Well Woman’s Clinic has served more than 7,000 women to date, with just over 300 women last year alone. Sister Helen encouraged both young women and men to get regular medical check-ups done to be certain of your body’s medical condition. It is best to detect cancers in its earliest stages so it can be effectively managed as well.
Mrs Janet Yaki is a colostomy cancer survivor and founder of the PNG STOMA Association. Mrs Yaki shared her testimony of the physical, emotional and mental stress she endured from being first diagnosed, undergoing seven surgeries and trying to adjust to trying to live a normal life as an ostomate. It is through her personal battle that she was inspired to establish the PNG Stoma Association to provide care and counselling for newly diagnosed patients (Ostomates) who undergo Ostomy surgery, most commonly as a result of colorectal or bladder cancer. As the driving force behind PNG Stoma Association, she voluntarily attends to post-surgery patients to show them how to correctly use a stoma bag and this gives her the opportunity to offer counselling and sharing about her own experiences.
Both women highlighted that cancer or any chronic illness doesn’t just affect the immediately affected areas of the body but there is also a heavy and lasting impact of the experience on patient’s emotional and mental health, and not forgetting the financial burden it imposes on families. This is why both Sister Helen and Mrs Yaki have made it their mission to continue to create cancer awareness and education and provide practical assistance to anyone who needs their help.
The key messages from both guest speakers were to do regular full medical check-ups, and maintain a healthy physical and sexual lifestyle. Our staff were honored to meet and learn from these two inspirational Papua New Guineans, who are driven by their passion to serve others.
