ANNALISA Matthews, a fifth-grade teacher at Mae’s Schools, can still vividly recall the sorrowful expression on one of her students’ faces. The student confided in her about the heartbreaking loss of her grandmother who succumbed to Breast Cancer. It prompted her to consider the support required by not just victims of the disease, but also their relatives and the affected children.

“Looking at her face really impacted me because these children go about their daily lives but they also have feelings towards this to see their relatives go through it,” ‘Teacher Anna’ shared recently in context of the school’s annual Breast Cancer awareness walk.

“I have my husband’s grandmother who had Breast Cancer and I saw what she faced and it was a terrible ordeal,” she further reflected. So when an opportunity came along to promote Breast Cancer education, Teacher Anna was happy to pursue it.

“I thought we needed to educate our children some more. I wanted to raise awareness in the school so that the children would know they need to support those going through that,” she shared.

For some years now, she has been coordinating the school’s cancer walk, which started as a very small event but grew with each passing year. This year’s walk around the school’s environs was the biggest one yet as parents were invited to join their children for the first time.

“We had the entire complex participating, whereas before, it was just for nursery and primary; this year all the way up from playgroup to secondary took part,” Teacher Anna shared with this publication. Funds were raised to support two cancer survivors.

“We also wanted boys to know that they can also get Breast Cancer. We just really wanted the children to be aware and to have more appreciation for Breast Cancer survivors and those who did not make it.”

Teacher Anna said that without the school’s proprietress, Mayfield French, the initiative would not have been possible. French reportedly is supportive of these kinds of initiatives and does a lot of charity work behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, it all started when Mae’s Schools in Subryanville, Georgetown, helped the Guyana Cancer Foundation (GCF) to sell its pins and ribbons during Cancer awareness month. Gradually, the school began adding more and more activities to mark the occasion.
The Breast Cancer walk by students turned into an annual event, where the school would ask children and staff to wear pink on the designated day. Apart from conducting the walk, there would be cake for distribution, a photo booth, appropriate decorations, and a talk with children by their class teachers.