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Cancer care in Africa

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Campaign for Lydia

Lydia is a young mother and university lecturer in Uganda, who has been diagnosed with HER2-neu, a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.

Survival rates for patients with HER2 were relatively low compared to other forms of breast cancer, but the drug Herceptin has revolutionised treatment and can reduce the chance of a recurrence of the cancer by half.

The cost of a 12 month course of Herceptin is approximately £30,000. Without help there is no way Lydia will be able to afford the treatment.

Lydia is a wonderful person and mother and has a lot to offer. She is desperate to get through this and her supporters are determined to raise the money to give her a good chance of doing that.

This campaign is being run by Uganda Cancer Trust - a UK based charity raising money to support cancer treatment, education and care in Uganda. More than 60% of cancer deaths occur in developing countries, but only 5% of cancer spending.

Thanks for visiting!

Latest news

The latest on Lydia's progress and our fundraising activities.

10 January 2010

Happy New Year! Sorry for a long delay in updating this page, but we have been busy behind the scenes. Lydia has now almost finished her radiotherapy and is looking very well.

Uganda Cancer Trust UK, who are now running this campaign for Lydia as well as fund-raising to improve cancer treatment in Uganda, are holding a Charity Launch event on 10 February at the Cartoon Museum. More details are below.

They can now accept donations via JustGiving, which means that they can claim additional tax back when UK taxpayers make donations. The donate links below have been updated.

A big thanks as always to all the generous donations which keep coming in. We look forward to a busy 2010!

Jenny

Uganda Cancer Trust UK - Charity Launch

6.30-8.30pm, 10th February 2010

Cartoon MuseumCartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London, WC1A 2HH

Join us for a celebration of the formation of Uganda Cancer Trust UK at the Cartoon Museum on 10th February.

Tickets are £15 and include drinks and nibbles, a tour of the museum, and free entry to the raffle - where you could win a weekend away, a bottle of champagne, a limited edition print or one of many other prizes. We are also hoping to have some traditional Ugandan dancing!

We are extremely grateful to Irwin Mitchell for sponsoring the event.

How to get tickets

1. You can pay for your tickets online via paypal. We will email you confirmation and your ticket reference numbers.

2. Email i...@ugandacancer.org.uk to reserve a ticket on the door.

We look forward to seeing you there!

50 rounds of pain!

On 13 September 2009 Alex Hannah endured an epic 50 rounds of sparring to raise more than £700 for Uganda Cancer Trust UK and our Campaign for Lydia.



Over 4.5 hours he fought in 50 consecutive 3 minute sparring rounds...

...10 judo



...10 Brazilian jujitsu



...10 wrestling



...some quick changes of kit



...10 kickboxing



... and 10 boxing!



A very big thanks to Alex and all his sparring partners for an awesome afternoon. We're feeling inspired to get fit and do something challenging now... so watch this space.

How you can help

There are lots of ways to get involved - and not all involve money!

  • Tell your friends about this lens, or set up a link.
  • Donate! This links takes you to Uganda Cancer Trust UK on JustGiving. Please send a message with your donation if you would like your donation to be used specifically for Lydia's treatment.
    Anything you are able to give, however small, would really help.
  • Join our facebook group to keep up to date with what we're doing and take part in fund-raising activities.
  • Visit the website of artist Tony Whitehouse, who is donating the profits from all prints he sells to Lydia's treatment fund.
  • Follow our fund-raising progress on Twitter and spread the word to your followers.

10 Facts about Lydia

  1. She was born in the Luwero triangle in 1978 and now lives in Kampala, Uganda
  2. She teaches law at university and has just set up a piggery to generate more income for her family
  3. She is fearless - her first time in a canoe she paddled straight into the middle of the lake, even though she didn't know how to swim!
  4. She loves and believes in God
  5. She is married with two children, Josiah (2) and Jemima (4 months)
  6. She loves children and believes that every child should grow up with their parents. She has every intention of seeing her babies grow up!
  7. Her favourite films are comedies and musicals, especially the Sound of Music
  8. She wrote her dissertation on the role of proper water management in conflict resolution
  9. She volunteered at the Human Rights and Peace Centre at Makerere University.
  10. She needs to raise £30,000 (97M USh) for life-saving treatment

Lydia and family

Fund-raising totals

Thanks to everyone who has helped raise money for Lydia so far!

Donations - £7618
Sponsored walk on 14 June 2009 - £4482
Club night - £1000
Coffee mornings - £420
Tony Whitehouse prints - £260

Our targets are to raise:
£10,000 by September 2009
£20,000 by March 2010
£30,000 by September 2010

Biggest donors

Special thanks go to Chris, Dan, Jane, John, Alison, Nicole, Frauke, Kate, Ezekiel, the Franciscan Convent in Leicester, Chris Brewer and Let's Go Travel for their generous donations.

Thanks particularly to David who organised the sponsored walk, put on a delicious barbecue for the walkers at his house, and gave an extremely generous donation.

Yousef has provided incredible support in his sponsorship of the walk and hosting a special fundraising night at his club in London, and Saida has done a lot of work in mobilising the Ugandan community in London.

Grand Total - Jan 2010

£13,780

About cancer in Uganda

Cancer in Uganda is on the rise. People are living longer and developing a more western lifestyle with the associated bad habits - eating unhealthily, drinking and smoking. Only around 5% of the population seek professional medical treatment, making it difficult to understand the full picture.

Population
Uganda: 31 Million
UK: 61 Million

Number of oncologists
Uganda: 1
UK: 324

Number of radiotherapy centres
Uganda: 1 old machine
UK: 60

Breast cancer diagnosis
Uganda: 95% of cases are already at an advanced stage when diagnosed
US: Approximately 15% are at an advanced stage when diagnosed

Breast cancer 5 year survival rates
Uganda: 32%
US: 81%

What do you think?

We'd love to hear from you!
- leave a message for Lydia
- let us know what you think of the lens
- is there anything you would like us to add
- share your ideas for fund-raising

submit
  • Reply
    jgelien Dec 29, 2009 @ 10:24 am | delete
    This is a wonderful thing you are doing for Lydia. My prayers are with Lydia and her family and the success of the fundraising campaign.
  • Reply
    Quirina Sep 12, 2009 @ 3:28 am | delete
    Fantastic progress, congrats! And good luck for tomorrow's event..
  • Reply
    Alex HANNAH Sep 7, 2009 @ 5:19 pm | delete
    Hi guys, On Sunday I am doing a sponsored sparring session this will be me doing 10 rounds of Judo, 10 rounds Brazillian Jui Jitsu, 10 rounds Wrestling , 10 rounds Boxing and 10 rounds kick boxing.
    To make it more intresting my sparring partners for the Judo are both Black Belts.
    The sparring partners for the Brazillian Jui Jitsu include a 120kg Black belt a brown belt and a purple belt. (I myself am purple)
    The wrestling will partners will be patrick at 100 kg wrestler and Nigeria's national champiomn, Jon Owens World Police and Fire Games champion at under 130kg.
    Boxing partners will include Kevin Micthell Southern area amatuer boxing champion at cruiser weight and Danny Williams sparring Partner. Possibly Danny Williams however he may have previous engagment.
    The Kick boxing partners will involve Matt MITCHELL a Kickboxing coach and black belt with some of his pupils.

    By the end of this I will be badly beaten so please sponsor me, Please.
  • Reply
    Josephine Tusingwire Aug 21, 2009 @ 12:52 pm | delete
    You have all our prayers gal.God does miracles remember
  • Reply
    janlia Jul 14, 2009 @ 5:54 am | delete
    What a fantastic achievement, Thanks to all you guys for the hard work.And to you lydia, u do look smashing in this latest photo!!
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Some other lenses to try...

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... and some links to other websites

Uganda Cancer Trust UK
A UK based charity raising money to support cancer treatment, education and care in Uganda.
Ugandan Women Cancer Support Organisation
A group of breast cancer survivors who want to raise awareness and help other affected women have a less traumatic experience.
Suubi Trust
A charity raising money to improve healthcare provision in Uganda

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casablancajen

Hi, my name's Jenny, and I'm writing this lens on behalf of a group of family and friends who are trying to raise money for breast cancer treatment ou... more »

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