Friend in need: Combating Cancer

 Sharjah :Mustafa Jaber, 11, is full of life. Ask him how he is and he is all smiles, with no trace of the pain he underwent as a patient of leukaemia for seven years. Given a clean chit by the doctors five months ago, he is now raring to go, with his ‘A' grades at school reflecting his remarkable turnaround.

Like him, Abdullah is a bubbly nine-year-old. His cancerous left eye is in no way obliterating the beauty of life around him. Still undergoing treatment, he has been told that it may take another three years to be fully cured.

Receiving support from the Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), the families of these boys cannot thank the charitable organisation enough. Set up by the Sharjah Women's Club under the aegis of the Family Supreme Council, the group has helped over 700 cancer patients in the past 10 years.

"We are willing to take the journey along with them till they are cured," said Dr Sawsan A.S. Al Madi, General Secretary of FOCP, adding that the charity is currently reaching out to 60 needy cancer patients, including 12 children.

These patients receive support from FOCP after they submit documents like medical reports, income certificates etc. "So far, we have not turned anyone away," said Dr Sawsan. The foundation arranges and funds treatment, pays school fees and house rents or fulfills wish lists.

While it receives support from various quarters, the annual Oil Baron's Ball has been of considerable help, she said. The ball is held under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.

Jaber and Abdullah each received a Ford Focus from funds raised at the ball so that they could commute to hospital, said Dr Sawsan. "I used to go on a bus to Abu Dhabi for treatment. So I requested a car," he said. Last year the foundation paid the school fees and house rents of four other children and also gave them playstations and laptops.

This year, the ball hopes to raise Dh500,000. Four children have put up their wish lists: Yehya Barakate Jaha, 8, wants a car; Mayra Farook, 5, wants her school fees paid; Drien Komer, 12, and Fatima Mohammad Saken, 5, want laptops. All are leukaemia patients.