Cansa celebrates its volunteers

Cansa celebrates and acknowledges its incredible team of volunteers in line with International Volunteer Day, which was on December 5. It is thanks to the dedication, support and care of these selfless men and women, who work in solidarity with staff members, that they can continue to carry out their care and support services and various activities across most parts of South Africa.

Lisa Strydom, Cansa’s service manager for volunteers, explains the last two years highlighted many challenges faced by Cansa volunteers as events and engagements were postponed.

“When our face-to-face events were limited, Cansa leveraged technology and immediately started building an online presence to remain available for the public as best we could.

“Sadly, it was not always easy for our volunteers to access or master these technologies due to factors such as not having computers or laptops at home, or internet connectivity and data, as well as the technical background to use various online platforms.”

This challenge has been recognised as an opportunity for the organisation.

“We would love to be able to provide our volunteers with the tools they need to operate within their communities – be it with a laptop, smartphone, training and upskilling on computer software and social media platforms or assistance with mobile data so that they can, optimally, continue with their work for Cansa.

“We are operating with a business model that relies on technology and volunteers need to be able to attend meetings, training and supervision sessions online. We appeal to the public and corporates and invite them to show their community spirit by helping us with donations and sponsorships of these items to keep our volunteers active in the communities where they are working.”

Volunteers are an integral part of Cansa and form the backbone of many of its teams in communities country-wide,

Minenhle Dlamini, a Cansa volunteer says, “Doing volunteer work for Cansa is making me feel I’m adding value not only to individuals but to the whole country. I wake up feeling excited and looking forward to the day because I have an opportunity to do what I have always been passionate about and that is to serve people.

”Volunteers help with care and support programmes that include helping patients, caregivers and loved ones cope with the physical side effects of cancer treatment. They are offering practical solutions and provide emotional support (counselling/support groups) or do fundraising where volunteers work on national fundraising projects like the Cansa Shavathon and Cansa Relay For Life events.”

Admin volunteers assist with office work at Cansa Care Centres. Virtual volunteers help with the design, editing and translation of materials and health promotion volunteers carry out health awareness campaigns and information talks in local communities.

Advocacy volunteers work with legislators and professionals who volunteer their professional skills and training free of charge to cancer patients, staff, or volunteers.

Should you, or your company, wish to assist Cansa with a donation or sponsorship for their volunteers, contact Lisa at lstrydom@cansa.org.za

If you have a skill or talent that you would like to use to help cancer patients and their families, sign up as a volunteer online or contact your nearest Cansa Care Centre. For more information, also contact Lisa Strydom, Service Manager: Volunteers at Cansa, at the above email or call 079 695 6579.

Visit www.cansa.org.za or contact the nearest Cansa Care Centre, call Cansa toll-free at 0800 22 66 22 or email info@cansa.org.za.

In addition to online resources and Facebook support groups, Cansa offers multi-lingual support on WhatsApp 072 197 9305 for English and Afrikaans and 071 867 3530 for isiXhosa, isiZulu, siSwati, Sesotho and Setswana.
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