My wish to work as a social worker was fulfilled when I got the opportunity to volunteer for the cancer detection camps organised by ICS, Bengaluru. While I visited the camps and travelled through the villages of Kolar, Chitradurga, Kollegala, and so on, I realised how ignorant the people were about cancer and its effects.
In camp at Anagondahalli near Kolar, the villagers were very candid and their innocent answers amused us. When we asked them how many times they consumed tobacco-related products in a day, they replied with a wide grin, “Not often, only 8-10 times a day”. Some even said they had no limits and smoked whenever they had some spare time.
I recollect another funny incident when I asked a person if anyone in his household had T.B (Tuberculosis). He proudly answered that he had one in his house. Soon we realised he was actually referring to TV or television and had never heard about the disease TB.
On another occasion, an old woman voluntarily told us she smoked several packets of bidis every day. She kept running away from the doctors, but we finally managed to get her checked and persuaded her to quit smoking.
While working as a volunteer, I realised due to lack of education and awareness, people from underprivileged community prefer to face death than get diagnosed and treated while the disease is in its initial stage. Perhaps fear, ignorance and poverty are at the roots of such attitude. To change this attitude, we need more such detection and awareness camps and more volunteers to fight cancer.
