Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. ~ Maya Angelou

On the ten year anniversary of A Fresh Chapter (AFC), we will return to our first in-person, international cross-cultural program since 2019. But, we won’t be returning to how we used to do things and that’s not because of COVID. 

Peru Odyssey participants connect and reflect on their experiences after days of local volunteering in Lima.

AFC started as an organization that took North American cancer survivors and caregivers on two-week immersive volunteer Odyssey programs around the world. From India to South Africa, Peru to Costa Rica, AFC’s Odyssey programs gave participants a chance to feel purposeful after cancer and reconnect to the world in a meaningful way. For some, this was the farthest they had ever stepped outside of their comfort zones, and this experience gave everyone a chance to move beyond the borders of their cancer stories. These programs deeply impacted our traveling volunteers. However, we began to ask ourselves what kind of positive, long-term impact we were having on the local communities we served. 

Not as much impact as we could be, we realized. 

Changing the Paradigm of Our Volunteer Programs

Kenyan and US Fellows of AFC’s 2019 Kenya Elevate Program laid the groundwork for programs to come.

In 2019, we made a decision to change the paradigm of our programs. Rather than centering the focus on North American travelers, we wanted to center people impacted by cancer in a country where there was very little access to psychosocial support. In partnership with Philip Odiyo Ouma, a Nairobi-based psycho-oncologist, and Kenyan cancer survivors, AFC embarked on a vision to build a scalable, sustainable, evidence-informed model focused on healing the emotional scars of cancer in Kenya and empowering African survivors and caregivers to mobilize as advocacy leaders.

Why Kenya? 

In Kenya, cancer is the third leading cause of death and 70-80% of diagnoses are late-stage due to misdiagnosis and inadequate screening. Late diagnosis, stigma, fear of medical results, and low-income status are some of the contributing factors to this growing epidemic. While cancer and its treatment can leave many patients grappling with psychosocial challenges that can dramatically affect their quality of life, the difficulty of balancing both life and cancer is often not addressed by existing cancer support models.

From Odyssey to Elevate, Ignite, and More

A Fresh Chapter’s Mizizi workshops, like this one in Kisii, bring tools for emotional healing to local communities across Kenya.

We held our inaugural Africa Elevate Program in 2019 (then known as the Global Emerging Leaders Program) and brought together U.S. Cancer Advocates, Employees of Loxo@Lilly, and Kenyan cancer advocates for the first cross-cultural leadership program of its kind. This program set the stage for the work we have continued virtually throughout the pandemic and since. In 2021, we launched our first culturally-adapted virtual Ignite Experience program for Africa, and then in 2022, our local team of facilitators launched our grassroots Mizizi workshops. This is all part of our goal of serving 15,000 Africans by 2025. 

During COVID, we made the decision to discontinue our Odyssey program. We are grateful for all that we learned through Odyssey and will continue to celebrate the indelible memories and personal impact shared amongst our travel participants and team members. However, we cannot ignore the growing impact we have been able to achieve through our virtual 10-week Ignite Experience program and our Empower Workshops—both of which are free and accessible to people around the world—let alone our ongoing work in Kenya. Moving forward, our onsite cross-cultural programs will solely be through the Elevate program model. 

AFC CEO Terri Wingham and Kenya Program Lead Odiyo Ouma have collaborated for years to bring their vision for a cross-cultural model of cancer support in Kenya to life.

After a four year hiatus from onsite programming, we are thrilled to be returning to Kenya in September 2023 for our second Africa Elevate Program. This two-week onsite program is part of a yearlong Fellowship Commitment for: 

• 9 African survivors and caregivers from both Kenya and South Africa 
• 5 North American survivors, caregivers, and advocates
• 9 Global volunteers from our partner organizations: Loxo@Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)

The Challenges of Changing The Paradigm

In some ways, designing the Elevate Program has been the most complicated program we have ever developed. We want to ensure that every element of the program advances our broader goal of meaningfully serving 15,000 Africans by 2025. We have also focused on how we can prioritize cross-cultural learning where everyone has something to teach and something to learn. Intentional cross-cultural programming like this comes with tough conversations and the opportunity to reframe how we think about expertise. In partnership with our Kenyan team members and our partners, we have spent months deliberating how to: 

• 

  AFC team member Hope (left) holds space for a 2023 Mizizi participant in Nanyuki, Kenya.

  Elevate our African Fellows (many of whom have received training to become peer facilitators of AFC’s programs) by giving them opportunities to share their local expertise and offering them new skills and tools to support their ongoing work.

• Harness the skills and expertise of our North American and European Fellows (both employees and advocates), while simultaneously creating opportunities for them to become students of the Kenyan culture, learn what it means to lead in a culture different from their own, and ultimately engage in the delicate dance of knowing when to step up and when to step back.
• Deliver multiple workshops/programs to the broader Kenyan cancer community in order to reach hundreds of people through this two-week onsite program.
• Design ongoing projects for Kenyan team members that will strengthen the foundation for AFC’s work in Kenya while building a model that can be replicated and scaled in other countries. 

Strategic Partnerships Pave the Way to Sustainable Change

In one month, our international fellows will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, to begin our ambitious two weeks together. Collaborations spanning global time zones pepper our calendars as we continue to prepare. We know this program will come with both triumphs and challenges, and we look forward to sharing the ongoing lessons. We are incredibly grateful to Loxo@Lilly and BMS for their partnership on the Elevate Program, which not only makes this two-week onsite program possible but contributes to the work AFC is doing year round in Kenya. Our thanks also to the Melissa Carroll Legacy Fund for their support, which made the participation of our 2023 South African fellows in this program possible.

 Join Us In Changing the Paradigm of Cancer Support

It takes a village to create sustainable impact and change, and we look forward to growing our partnerships as we expand our work across Africa. If you’re interested in learning more, please email terri@afreshchapter.com. 

To learn more about our work in Kenya, enjoy this post or visit our Kenya Elevate page. To stay informed on all A Fresh Chapter updates, sign up here to receive our newsletter. If you are interested in supporting our work —  thank you! — please click here to donate.

Terri’s post was originally published on LinkedIn.