About the author
Holger is a management consultant turned volunteer. He loves to take pictures, run around in the sun, dive and he has never met a beer in his life he didn't like.
More posts by Holger
At the end of august, Kerstin and I met Belize’s first lady for the first time.
OK, we didn’t really meet. Nobody introduced us. But we were at the same party she was at. That’s her, Kim Simplis-Barrow, below all the way on the left. The little girl next to her is her daughter.
I met her again at the beginning of November when she helped us unveil the Destination Belize Magazine for 2012, the prime marketing tool published by BTIA.
That’s her again, second from left (Photo curtesy of Senior JICA volunteer Mr. Katsumi Nagamori):
In December, Kim Simplis-Barrow (or Miss Kim, as she is commonly called) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent treatment immediately.
This is Miss Kim today, about 4 months later:
She’s lost her hair but she seems to plainly refuse wearing a wig. She has a big smile instead.
This bold attitude has sparked a wave of public solidarity, projects and activities for cancer awareness. It is inspiring and contagious. It is very, very impressive.
Amongst the impressed were the students of the University of Belize, specifically the 2012 communication skills class. So they created an event called “Baldmiration”. (Or maybe a movement called “Baldmiration” if I look at the wave of shaved Belizeans on my facebook … )
The event started out with a couple of speeches. Protocol. Introductions. Representatives of honor and stature needed to be welcomed. The history of how the idea of a public mass shaving came around had to be told.
Then came the first time chills went down my spine.
The communications officer of the University of Belize was introduced as “a cancer warrior”. He took the podium and told his story. Of how his brain tumor was not diagnosed for a long time. Of how they told him he has no chance to survive this when they diagnosed it. Of how he left Belize in a wheel chair for the US. Of how he was operated on. Of how you just want “God to take you away” during your treatments.
“When I left Belize, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t touch anything. And then my eyes went cross. I saw everything double. For the first time in my life I had two wifes. That was a great day.” The room was filled with laughter.
All day long, laughter and tears followed closely upon each other. The UB lecturer leading through the event then told the story of a lady who is diagnosed with breast cancer. She needs a mastectomy (i.e. the breast removed). She is not afraid of the surgery, the pain, the treatment. But she does not dare to do it because she is afraid her husband will leave her. And she’d rather die.
It’s the obvious domination of a situation (or a culture?) by the ignorant, stupid over the wise and far-sighted that causes the pain. (I am careful to generalize – but women leading change, educating themselves and taking responsibility for health, safety and development while men use their status and physical strength to sabotage this development for fear of losing their position is a pattern we have seen several times here in Belize – health, AIDS prevention, disaster preparedness. I am not saying that men deliberately do that. But often times our development work is with mostly women who battle reality as well as the complacency of their “bread winner”).
First one to give his hair was Jim Scott.
I think it looks good. And it’ll shave some time off his triathlon time. Pun intended.
Here he is giving an interview:
While Jim got his new haircut, something was happening next to him that took me a while to get.
There was a lady who was apparently well-known as a nun with a footprint in the education sector, specifically as a principal at one of the bigger local schools.
The UB lecturer asked for attention, introduced the sister and said that “she wanted to share her life in pictures with the media”.
I for one had absolutely no idea what that meant.
The sister then told everyone that she too was a cancer warrior. That when she did her treatment years ago, she lost all of her hair. “Wait a minute… that’s a wig?” asked the back of my head.
Then this lady did something that still sends chills down my spine as I write about it.
She says something along the lines: “I was never courageous enough to show this so I have been wearing a wig ever since. But today, ” and she reaches for her hairline “I will show you and I will have the rest shaved off.”
The rooms gasped when she pulled her wig off and stood in front of 4 TV cameras and I don’t know how many photographers snapping away, her chin proudly towards the ceiling taking a deep breath of relief.
I hope the pictures convey at least a little bit of the relief and pride that you could almost physically feel in that room emitting from this lady who is – from what I gather – something of an icon in Belize City.
I admit: I had a tear in my eye. Most of the people who saw this had more than just one.
One by one the students, friends, spontaneous by-standers got their head shaved.
Two photographers donated their time and photos to the cancer society so there was a make-shift studio setup for before and after shots. I snapped away a bit before getting out of the way:
It was a moving event with lots of media attendance. The atmosphere was incredible: positive, strong, proud. Times in which you were shushed about cancer? Where you wouldn’t dare to mention that? Not here. At least not now.
Action like this shows what “awareness” is about and why it is important. And how rewarding it is.
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PS: I admit that I was considering “Skinheads who like Boobies!” as a – admittedly provocative – title for this post in line with the provocative breast-cancer awareness campaigns out there. Which I am sure would’ve yielded some traffic. I decided against it. Please let me know your feelings about this.
PPS: If you read “streaking for cancer awareness” and you are ready to sign up, be aware that there are multiple meanings for the word “streaking”, only one involving running around naked. That one is most likely not meant. In this case, you could get a pink streak in your hair for a 10 dollar donation to the cancer society.
PPPS: Apologies for not knowing the names for a lot of people involved. Please feel free to add them as a comment if you know people.
PPPPS: Excuse the quality of the indoor pictures. No big flash, no big camera. Just my tiny DSLR. Plus I (tried to) stay out of the way of the official photographers where I could so I missed some shots.
Great stuff Holger - thanks for posting!