By Petro Mkandawire
Blantyre, November 19, MANA: Executive Director for Cancer Survivor Quest Chikhulupiliro Ng’ombe has urged Malawians to join hands in celebrating No-shave November.
No- Shave November is a month-long journey during which participants more especially men do not shave and groom their hair in order to raise cancer awareness and envoke conversation around cancer.
The pipeline of not shaving hair or beared untill 1st December is that men and women should donate the money they would normally spend on grooming for a month to cancer organisation which they use to educate about cancer prevention, saves lives and aid those fighting the battle of cancer.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency on Monday, Ng’ombe said when men decide not to trim their hair or beard, it means they have a spirit of trying to share what cancer surviving patients go through, as such men should be at the forefront in dealing with cancer through showing their manhood by keeping their beard.
“We need to hold hands together to fight cancer. We need a holistic approach, we need everyone in the fight whether it’s a corporate, individuals, groups, organizations and government to ensure that we have a holistic care which ensures more people surviving from cancer,” said Ng’ombe.
He added that in this month of November their organisation has been involving youth into advocacy as a way of raising awareness, spreading awareness about no-shave in social media and trying to gather funds which will be used in dealing with prostate cancer.
One of the recipients, John Mwale said he has been practicing this initiative for not less than five years consistently and he begun by shaving his hair in month of October as a symbol of what happens when a person is going through the chemotherapy treatment whereby the hair falls off.
“The cancer fight is too big to fight alone, so the masters need to come in to support the patient to assist in prevention and prevent themselves as well. So there is a larger portion that the people can do in dealing with Cancer,” said Mwale.
No-Shave November well known as No shave Movember was founded in 2009 in order to lineup sponsors to donate in support of their hair raising commitment whereby anyone can participate including women who can grow leg hair.
