AURAT stands for Ambitious Undergrads Raising Awareness Together. This organization was founded by five young South Asian women who felt there was a lack of awareness about breast cancer among the South Asian community.
Founding members Kiranpreet Dhillon, Hardeep Grewal, Sukhdeep Sran, Kamal Sekhon and Kirandeep Kandola put together the organization a year ago and since then have done a few fundraises for breast cancer research and at the same time have brought awareness to the community. The focus of AURAT is not only to bring awareness to breast cancer, but also to how South Asians react when the disease comes into their home.
Kiranpreet Dhillon told The VOICE that their goal Wednesday night was, besides raising money, to educate the women present on what a mammogram is, how it’s carried out and its importance.
The members of AURAT who were on stage spoke in fluent Punjabi considering these are young women with Canadian accents, even calling out ticket numbers in Punjabi, which is difficult in itself. This was important as there were many older women there and statistics show this is the demographic that is hit the hardest with breast cancer.
The hall was decorated in gulabi rang, shades of red and pink, the colors that are associated with weddings in the South Asian culture and the color pink being the universal symbol color of breast cancer awareness. This observation was also remarked upon by breast cancer survivor Kamal Kaler, who felt the color choice represented life.
Kamal Kaler shared her story from the discovery of the disease to the survival of it by reading a poem she wrote in Punjabi. It was very moving as she described how she told her children about it. Her regular mammogram came back with a white growth that was not a lump, it was a line. She had been doing home checks as well and this was, of course, not discovered. Even her needle biopsy came back negative. On the advice of her doctor, she had the abnormal matter removed and it proved to be cancerous. She shared this story as there is a 1% chance that a needle biopsy can come back negative even while there is cancer present.
Kaler spoke of three very important points for those who have the disease and also their family. Firstly, once a person is diagnosed, they need their family’s support. So, regardless of any animosity among family members, please let the immediate and extended family know, do not hide it, as is the tendency among South Asians. The patient needs the support and the supporters need to have a positive attitude.
The second point she talked about was the attitude from well-meaning relatives or friends. Kamal Kaler cautions supporters to refrain from crying or grieving when visiting the patient.
“A family member came to see me and as she entered my home, she started crying. I thought somebody had died! When I asked her husband, he replied she was crying because I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This made me very angry. I did not need the negative attitude, as depression is one of the stages a person goes through, instead be positive, upbeat and only talk about other cancer survivors, not about a ‘so and so’ who didn’t make it,” said Kaler. “This is another bad habit of our people.”
Her third point emphasized the importance of young women who have a family history of any cancer, especially breast cancer, to get tested earlier, even as young as 20 years old.
Pawan Sekhon, a nurse at Surrey Memorial Hospital, gave detailed information about the science behind breast cancer. She talked about the attitude in our community, how people hide it and thus create a stigma about breast cancer, instead of sharing it and educating others. There is not only physical pain with the disease, but also emotional pain.
“There are many stages a patient goes through and there is help available through it all, though of course, the family’s positive support is the most important,” said Sekhon.
The information she presented was in Punjabi. She also showed a video on how the mammogram is done, thus taking away the fear of the unknown for the women, especially the older women. A woman over 40 should have one mammogram every year and if a benign cyst is found, she should be much more vigilant.
While this important information was being presented, there was a buzz of conversation going on, even those who were paying attention to the speaker, like myself, had difficulty ignoring the noise. It was disheartening to see this behavior when one would think that if a person bought a ticket, made the effort to come out, then they should at least pay attention to learn something, which ultimately, is important for them. Again, this is another bad habit of our people, instead of listening we are busy talking.
Mammogram saves lives, that was the message tonight. It is a safe and simple procedure, finds what you cannot, only takes a few minutes, a doctor’s referral is not required and is free for women over 40 years of age. Book an appointment today by calling 1-888-GOHAVE1 (1-888-464-2831) or go to www.GOHAVE1.com.
AURAT brought awareness on breast cancer and the importance of having a mammogram to the South Asian community by inserting the information in a fun evening full of Bhangra dancers, skits reminiscing of life back in Punjab, and prize giveaways.
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