KidzCan, Zimbabwe Cricket roll out partnership to fight cancer

Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter

KidzCan Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Cricket rolled out their partnership to fight childhood cancer on Sunday during the one-day international cricket match between the senior national men’s cricket team the Chevrons and Ireland at Harare Sports Club.

Zimbabwe Cricket donated proceeds from Sunday’s match to KidzCan, a charitable organisation that helps children living with cancer and those who have survived cancer. Zimbabwe Cricket has adopted KidzCan as its charity of choice in its quest to help raise awareness about childhood cancer to help increase the number of children who survive the disease.

At Sunday’s match, KidzCan brought eight childhood cancer survivors to watch the match. They had initially planned to bring 10 survivors but two were unable to attend because they were not feeling well.

KidzCan emphasises the importance of early childhood cancer detection. They believe that children have a better chance of surviving cancer if it is detected early. By partnering with Zimbabwe Cricket, KidzCan aims to raise awareness about cancer.

A nurse at KidzCan Mrs Charity Kawadza took time to narrate the help they give to young cancer patients and explained what it means to be a childhood cancer survivor.

“Zimbabwe Cricket has adopted KidzCan as their charity of choice that they are going to assist. And with that in mind, we brought in eight survivors. When we say survivors, these are children who were diagnosed with cancer and they went through the chemotherapy treatment to eradicate cancer from their body. And they have been free of cancer for the last three years, most of them. So in a way, they have been declared cancer-free.”

“KidzCan assisted with all the chemotherapy (and) medication the children received while they were undergoing treatment. We also assisted them in undergoing scans to check how far the disease was and whether it had disappeared from the body. We assisted with those tests. We also assisted with food packs for nutrition because in cancer management, nutrition is part of the treatment. So they also received nutrition packs. They have also been receiving counseling. It’s very difficult for a child who is within a family and he gets cancer or she gets cancer but the other siblings do not get cancer. So they have a lot of questions. Why me? So we’ve had to fill in those gaps by giving them relevant information, age-appropriate so that they can carry on with life,” she said.

Mrs Kawadza said bringing the eight to the Chevrons Ireland match at Harare Sports Club was a way of celebrating them for winning the fight against cancer and bringing them back to their families.

“They can meet some of them who were partners or pairs when they were receiving treatment. So they were happy to meet each other and accompany cricketers into the ground. And then they spend some time playing, kicking balls.

‘‘Unfortunately, the rains came and disrupted their fun. So we have had to go to a place of safety. But yes, it’s a day to celebrate. We are celebrating children who have conquered cancer. But at the same time, we want to give assistance to those who are newly diagnosed. It’s very important for Zimbabwe Cricket to partner with us because then we can now continue with that assistance to make sure we get more survivors,” said Mrs Kawadza.

Speaking on the sidelines of the match, KidzCan executive director Mr Daniel Mckenzie thanked the Chevrons for adopting KidzCan as their charity of choice saying the move will help increase cancer awareness and survival rate.

“We are here at Harare Sports Club, courtesy of Zimbabwe Cricket who adopted KidzCan as their charity of choice and also dedicating today’s third and final one-day international match between Zimbabwe and Ireland to Kids’ Camp. We are fortunate and blessed that eight of our survivors were part of the kids who walked with the players onto the field for the national anthems.

‘‘And I think, you know, the fact that we are now seeing survivors coming through is a lot of hard work and effort. It’s also showing that the more we raise awareness on childhood cancer, remember that, you know, if detected early, you know, all children should survive cancer. And these that you’ve seen here, it’s because their parents have taken that initiative,” said Mr Mckenzie.