Little means a lot,

The strong odour of disinfectant assails us. It's Saturday, February 19, my date with cancer. It's not as if we have not heard of cancer or seen a near and dear one suffering from this dreaded disease. On and off, we do come across a person afflicted with cancer and help out. But this was different - there were many faces of cancer that day. Faces and bodies wracked not only by pain, but also fears and concern of what would happen to their loved ones once they are no more. The worst is the sense of hopelessness and resignation.

We were in Ward 14, the female surgical ward at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital that Poya morning. The ward has 44 beds but that day there were only 37 patients, among whom was also a small boy. Boys who have their mothers staying by their bedside are allowed in this ward. 

Twelve-year-old Mahinda is from Karaitivu. From January 27, he has been here with his mother while the rest of his family survive at home, being looked after by an aunt. Unable to communicate with her in Tamil, another patient acts as an impromptu interpreter.

"There are lumps in his thyroid," Mahinda's mother Vijayalakshmi says through her tears. One operation has already been done and they are awaiting tests to check whether "it" has spread. It is rarely they get visitors, for her husband works as a grama sevaka back home and it is difficult for them to travel back and forth.

Ward 14 is spick and span. It's clean, bright and airy. The walls have got a coat of paint, the floor is tiled and there are dark green curtains separating the beds from each other. The lockers by the beds are polished. And there are smiles amidst the pain as we move around to Suneetha Perera (41) from Boralessa in Wennapuwa. She has hope, for in a day or two she may be returning home to her daughter and son who are 14 and 11. She couldn't eat and found a lump in her stomach. It was diagnosed as "e rogaya" (that disease), she says without mouthing 'pilikavak" (a cancer), like most patients who refuse to utter the dreaded word. An operation has been done and she'll come back to the clinic for injections after she's discharged.

"No one has come to see me," laments C.A. Baby Nona (85), an "elder" patient of the ward. She's been around for eight months and after the operation on her mouth, she can eat a little bit. As her people are in Ruwanwella, visitors are scarce.

Fifty-year-old K.C. Fernando from nearby Depanama cannot eat or speak at all. Her whole face is scarred by operations and sustenance is channelled through a tube in her nose.

Suddenly there is a flurry of activity. A small boy is brought on a stretcher for his dressings to be changed. Accompanied by his grandmother, Charith (8) pleads for food. The nurses and doctors talk to him gently, for he's after a laparotomy and also has leukemia. So for the moment he cannot have food. 

As he's wheeled out, still asking for food, a tiny bell rings and people gather around an oil lamp close to the main door of the ward. Today, a group of dedicated people have gathered to "officially" give a pledge that they would help maintain the ward for two years and even thereafter. These are the same people who had dedicated 1999 as the Year of Cancer to "reach in a small way those afflicted with cancer and those who have the additional burden of being poor". This group, the Association For Lighting A Candle (AFLAC) which believes that "it is better by far to light a solitary candle than curse the darkness" has launched a two-stage cancer project. 

According to Chief Co-ordinator handling patients, Mrs. Geetha Mittapala, "The first was to select cancer patients mainly recommended by the Cancer Hospital and provide them with a monthly nutritional supplement and medicines to the value of Rs. 1,000. Already 16 such patients from the outskirts of Colombo and one each from Anuradhapura and Yatiyantota are benefiting from this project."

The second stage was to upgrade and maintain Ward 14, thus creating a pleasant and clean environment as an antidote for sick people. The project begun with "A Candle for Lylie" concert in tribute to well-known singer Lylie Godridge and also as a means of collecting funds for the refurbishment of the ward saw fruition on Poya day. In keeping with the ideals of AFLAC, the ceremony was simple and brief, with a few speeches thrown in followed by the lighting of the traditional oil lamp. A special invitee who lit one wick was Indrani Fonseka (48) from Panadura.

Earlier we had seen her, seated on a bed gripping a rosary. For prayers are her only consolation. Her husband, a computer programmer had died suddenly leaving her the breadwinner of the family. She has three daughters — 17, 12 and nine. 

Indrani has no one to look after her children. "I had a dress boutique, where I employed some girls to stitch clothes, but after my husband died, I lost interest." Then in January more unnerving news awaited her. She couldn't eat and they found a growth in her abdomen...... and it was cancer. What frightens her now is what does the future hold for her children? "But all hope is not lost, with people like this to help us," Indrani smiles through her sorrow, as AFLAC volunteers distribute kiribath, kesel and tea to doctors, nurses, attendants, patients and well-wishers. 

That is the message from AFLAC too. As all the speakers stressed that "little drops of water make the mighty ocean" the message is — each and everyone of us can contribute our mite to soothe the furrowed and pain-wracked brow of cancer victims. Help can be given in many forms.- a little money or even a little kindness. We only need to stretch out our hand to them.

(AFLAC may be contacted on phone No: 645546)

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