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Breast cancer survivors clad in pink t-shirts walked for three kilometers together with their loved ones and supporters during last Sunday's walk for a cause that gathered more than 500 individuals.
Trees along the parade route were adorned with pink ribbons while participants carried pink balloons and streamers.
?We are not supposed to be the one walking. They should walk with us. We want to show them the way,? Me'Anne Alcordo-Solomon, breast cancer survivor and chief executive officer of Alcordo Advertising, told Cebu Daily News (CDN).
?But sometimes it is the loved one who is not coping well. Loved ones should learn how to cope and they should even double their effort than what the patient is undergoing,? she added.
The ?I Walk With 30,000? program of Solomon, who is also the head of I Can Serve Foundation, to spread breast cancer awareness together with similar organizations like the Cebu Breast Association, was supported by Avon Cosmetics.
The walk for a cause was held simultaneously in Manila, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and Tacloban.
It started from the Capitol and ended at the Cebu City Sports Center, where a short program was held.
Participants were welcomed by City Councilor Edgardo Labella in behalf of Mayor Tomas Osmeña, and Sarah Macintosh, Avon South East Asia cluster marketing director.
The activity was also a venue to educate the people that early cancer detection could lead to cure and lesser expenses, said another breast cancer survivor and Cebu Breast Association president Alice Gonzales.
Gonzales was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and had to undergo chemotherapy. The cancer recurred in 2003 and she had to undergo surgery.
The activity was a way for 36-year-old Avon employee Mercy Dala to support women with breast cancer as well as an opportunity for her to muster courage to have herself checked.
Dala, who hails from Talisay City in Cebu, said she felt a lump in her right breast but she had not consulted it with a doctor for fear of cancer.
She said she was not able to sleep the night before she discovered the lump as she felt some tenderness on her breast that radiates to her right arm.
?Mahadlok man gud ko (I am scared),? she told CDN.
Amelita Jimenez, 55, also shared the predicament of her neighbor and another young woman who were diagnosed with cancer. She said her neighbor has not done anything about her condition until she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The young woman, who had herself checked, is now better after undergoing chemotherapy.
She said early detection was indeed better.
Solomon said that women who join this kind of activity will be enlightened by other women who will tell them what they went through of having cancer.
'They bump into somebody who will tell them to have themselves checked. Activities are conducted in the hope that the word will spread to others,? she added.
'They lack faith,? Solomon said of women who are afraid to undergo a check up.
?As I always say, worries end when faith begins. You will always be bothered until you have yourself checked. If your test comes out negative then praise the Lord but if the test turns out to be positive you can still do something about it,? she said. /Editorial Assistant Bernadette A. Parco
