When was the last time you witnessed a moment of pure joy?

On Friday last week, I had an unforgettable opportunity to do just that. Rather than trying to tell you what it looked and felt like, I want to show you…

Would you believe me if I told you I took these pictures at a support session for people affected by cancer in New Delhi? Last Friday, I watched a group of 25-30 men, women, and children of all ages shuffle into CanSupport’s cozy and cramped second level daycare (not synonymous with childcare in India). Many of these people had the haunted looks of caregivers and patients still reeling from the devastation of a cancer diagnosis. But, with a little help from an inspiring music therapy outreach group called Resounding Joy, I spent the next hour watching their faces transform. Partway through, one of the therapists invited me to join the circle as the group sang, shook egg shakers, and took turns playing the bongo drums in an experience I can only describe to you as pure joy rising.

Maybe you are wondering how I ended up on the floor of a cancer support session in New Delhi? Well, as part of my Adventure of Hope, I am using some of my free time to investigate the global cancer landscape as well as to seek out opportunities for other survivors to volunteer within cancer outreach in developing countries. Thanks to an introduction from Carolyn Taylor of Global Focus on Cancer, I had the good fortune to meet another soul sister, Harmala Gupta, which led to my time on the floor with some of my cancer sisters and brothers on the other side of the globe.

Harmala is a fellow survivor, the founder of CanSupport, and one of the most inspiring people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. During our conversation, she shed a little light for me on the landscape of cancer here in India. The numbers and the stigma still surrounding the disease break my heart. In India, an obscene amount of cancers (in the neighbourhood of 80%) are not diagnosed until late stage 3 or stage 4 and often the only option is palliative care. To make a tragic situation even worse, the cancer is often kept a secret from friends, acquaintances, and sometimes even the patient herself. The patient may know she has cancer, but because her caregivers/family won’t ever talk about it with her, she’s trapped in a world where she’s being treated for, or worse yet, dying of a disease that she has to pretend she doesn’t know she has. I cannot imagine a more isolating and terrifying experience.

All I can say is Thank God (literally) for CanSupport. Here is an overview from their website about their much-needed work: “CanSupport has pioneered home care support for people with terminal cancer in New Delhi. It works in collaboration with the Pain & Palliative Care Clinic at the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH) at AIIMS. Under this programme more than 12,000 patients and members of the family have received high quality and appropriate medical, nursing and psychological care. CanSupport also runs a daycare programme for children and adults with cancer, a cancer support group and a telephone helpline for cancer. All its services are free as they are aimed at the most needy.”

My morning with Harmala, Resounding Joy, and the wonderful volunteers of CanSupport has once again left me filled with gratitude and hope. Yes, the cancer situation is a challenging one here in India (and really everywhere around the world), but Harmala and her team are continuing to live out the Mother Teresa quote I shared in last week’s post: “We can’t do great things in this life. We can only do little things great love.” CanSupport and the volunteers of Resounding Joy are proof of how those little things can add up to making a massive difference in the lives of so many and their efforts will inspire me over the weeks and months to come.

Speaking of little things making a major difference in the life of someone else – your generosity and total contributions of $710 in the last week have left me speechless and so very grateful. With every step along this journey, I end up having exactly what I need, exactly when I need it (which helps me to continue taking these giant leaps of faith). I have now booked my internal flights within Africa (to get me into Rwanda to volunteer at an Orphanage with GVN and then over to Tanzania to volunteer with the only oncology clinic in the country) as well as paid the taxes on my points seats from London into Africa. These expenses have unfortunately pushed me back into the red and I still have to book my flights within South/Central America, but hopefully, with your help, I’ll be back in the black again soon.

I appreciate you continuing to spread the word to individuals or companies who would like to get involved in sponsoring the Adventure of Hope and MOST of all, I thank you for all of your encouragement and support. Your comments, tweets, and emails motivate me to keep pushing forward and I’m so thankful to have all of you along for this adventure.

Have you had the opportunity to see joy rising lately? I would LOVE to hear your stories/comments.