Beginning with our very first program in New Delhi, India ten years ago, A Fresh Chapter has been invested in the global cancer community, broadening our reach over the years with programs in South Africa, Peru, Costa Rica, and finally Kenya. We’re thrilled to return to Kenya in 2023 — where we’re growing tremendously — for our first cross-cultural onsite program since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, on World Cancer Day, I felt inspired to share some highlights from my recent time with our team there, as well as some perspectives from our Kenyan community members.

As I sat in Nairobi International Airport waiting to board my flight back to Los Angeles last December, the past ten days felt like a blur. With events in both Nairobi and Eldoret, our team in Kenya had kept an ambitious schedule. Reflecting on the events of the trip, I felt my exhaustion give way to profound inspiration and humbling gratitude.

Jane Kabaki (middle) accepts a certificate for completing AFC’s Kenya Ignite Experience from AFC CEO Terri Wingham and Kenya Program Lead Odiyo Ouma.

While in Kenya, I had the chance to support our local alumni facilitator team as they launched our newest grassroots Mizizi workshop – “Emotional Awareness and Living with Dark & Light.” We delivered the workshop in both Kariobangi, one of the most underserved communities in Nairobi, and Eldoret, where we first launched our vision for Africa with the first cross-cultural group of 18 people back in 2019. In their delivery of the new Mizizi workshop, our growing facilitation team embodied the AFC content that they have helped customize for their local culture, and it was amazing to see the engagement from the participants — some of whom had traveled 8 hours to attend.

In addition to the workshops and many, many hours of strategic planning meetings with our Kenya Program Lead Odiyo Ouma, I was grateful to spend the day with 50+ of AFC’s Kenyan Alumni. They shared stories of how the tools they’ve acquired in both our onsite and virtual programs have changed their lives, and how excited they are to make an impact on those of others. 

Close to tears multiple times, I felt the appreciation and saw empowerment on the faces of people who have been stigmatized and made to feel like their cancer-related emotions are not valid. In this post, I wanted to share just a few of the perspectives that alumni expressed that day: 

Grace Bruno shares reflections with her peers at an AFC alumni gathering in Nairobi in December 2022.

Grace Bruno (right): “I remember when I was diagnosed I said, ‘Everything is crumbling down.’ But when I joined the Ignite program, I can say that I became more confident. I can [now] talk to other patients, and I tell them about the tools that I learned through AFC.”

Mary Mwangi shares about her own experience of cancer with AFC community members at the December event.

Mary Mwangi (below): “I found A Fresh Chapter from a friend. The impact it had on her made her tell me about it. This [experience] made me a new person. And now I’m doing things differently, and I have seen an impact. Most people know me in my community for coming out and talking about cancer, which many people do not do. I have been able to start a support group, and right now I have 20 champions [survivors] whom I have helped with life in one way or another.” 

Jane Kabaki (top): “I had lost my voice, I lost my confidence. I didn’t know how to find my voice again. Through Ignite, I was able to find my voice again and during that time I was able to heal emotionally, I was able to talk about what happened with confidence, and I was able to talk about what my story was like. I needed to be able to give a face and a voice to what cancer looks like. And to be able to have this kind of network of people in your group and see and learn and grow together. I’m so thankful.”

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Our global team is humbled to be learning from and collaborating with such an incredible international community. The enthusiasm and demand for AFC’s programming in Kenya is palpable. I’m grateful to our Kenyan team for all their collaboration and leadership in bringing this vision to life, and thankful to our donors and our partners at Eli Lilly & Company and Bristol Myers Squibb who continue to help make this work possible. I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for our vibrant and passionate AFC community, in Kenya and beyond.

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.