Save the Ta-Tas!

As most of you in America know, October was the month for Breast Cancer Awareness. However…here in the developing world, it is a new occurrence to have issue-focused events during a month and things that are common knowledge in the Western world are just now being made available and accessible to a larger population here. After perusing various slogans that I could have utilized for this post (‘feel your boobies,’ ‘hug your jugs,’ ‘caress the breasts’…that one gets a little too intimate I think), I decided my favorite awareness raising campaign in America has been the “Save the Ta-tas” venture. Perhaps this stems from a time in dance class in college when my dance professor was counting a combination ‘te-ah-ta-ta, te-ah-ta-ta, te-ah-ta-ta’ and she reminded us that we needed to ‘focus on the ta-tas!’ As all of you know, I have the sense of humor of a middle school boy and laughed out loud at being told to ‘focus on the ta-tas.’ But on a more serious note, having a grandmother that was a survivor of breast cancer and a double mastectomy, I am a strong advocate for education and awareness for women to prevent breast cancer in its earliest stages and to utilize preventive measures so it hopefully never occurs!

Here in Albania, women rarely talk about personal health as it relates to sexual health and preventive measures. Many topics are taboo to talk about amongst friends…let alone asking your doctor about them! Because then so-and-so would find out that you were asking about such-and-such and then word would get back to your relatives that you don’t know how to raise a baby/take care of yourself/take care of your baby maker, etc. In a world the size of a fishbowl, doctor-patient confidentiality doesn’t necessarily exist…let alone the other people that would gossip about you because they saw you at the hospital and question why you were there in the first place. So discussing the importance and how-tos of basic self-breast exams or breast exams that can be done by your doctor rarely ever happens. Most women don’t know how to do self-exams and are too ashamed to go to the doctor to have one done.

SO…as volunteers, we try and help encourage Albanians to help and encourage other Albanians! One of the best things about having American site mates is that we collaborate with each other and thereby encourage Albanians to collaborate with each other, other institutions, other organizations, etc. In a post-Communist country it is often hard to get people to work together…information is still power…and credit for a project is most often more important than the possibility to collaborate and develop a bigger and more effective project but having to share success with another organization. Since my site mate Bree works for the Center for Public Health here in Burrel it is her office’s job to promote various health issues in smaller communities that have been mandated by the Ministry of Public Health at the national level(mind you, this has really just started to be emphasized within the last 6 months-1 year).

High School Students with t-shirts and posters in front of the municipality building

Originally, we wanted to have a walk in order to gain attention that breast cancer is an important issue that people need to be educated about. Bree’s office at the Public Health Center went around promoting Breast Cancer awareness throughout the month and was able to contact various people in various fields to garner support in favor of raising awareness. On the day of the walk when Bree and I arrived, we arrived to the 3 women in her office waiting by themselves (we always keep our expectations flexible here…otherwise disappointment is generally in the mix!). However, after 10 more minutes, there ended up being over 100 people there to walk!

Nurses, doctors, women from Public Health Center walking from museum

We were able to bring together people from the Alternative School where I teach, students from the high school where Kristen helps with a community projects class/teaches English, doctors and nurses from the hospital and from the Public Health Center, and teachers from a nursing school and other schools in Burrel.

It was one of those really inspiring experiences where it is amazing to see people coming together for a cause and combining forces instead of trying to take credit. Albanian nurses were able to hand out basic informational flyers on breast cancer on the street to women as well as flyers for a meeting scheduled the following week at the Alternative School.

Students from Alternative School preparing to sell cookies

We also had cooking students from the Alternative School bake cookies in order to sell to raise money for a ‘mammogram fund.’ There is no mammogram machine in Burrel and the closest one is 2.5 hours away in Tirana…many women can’t afford the transportation costs as well as the mammogram fees, so we are trying to make it possible for a few extra women to be screened.

This month also provided a great opportunity for me to start helping the Alternative School where I teach focus on women’s issues. While the school is specifically set up as a vocational school to teach students cooking and sewing, it is also part of a larger women’s NGO with headquarters based in the capital in Tirana [Useful to Albanian Women]. However, currently, not much attention is given to women’s issues….most of the focus is on the school. This month (with the now available resource of Bree working in the health field), we were finally able to start focusing on distributing important information to women who most often do not have the opportunity to find or receive it. We were able to hold a couple of meetings on breast cancer at the Center. I think that this will provide a trend whereby the Center will start focusing on 1 issue per month to raise awareness and educate women on a specific topic. I am excited because the new assistant director is on board and really excited to get involved with any projects that we can develop together!

Lastly…if you haven’t, check your ta-tas! And tell a friend to check their ta-tas!! …though only help your friend check their ta-tas if you are a certified nurse or doctor! :)

Students making sugar cookies to sell for 'mammogram fund' [they were super excited about cookie cutters!]