AS a cancer survivor, Glenashley resident, Sonja Goris, uses her journey to inspire others in the local community. Goris, who is an Afrikaans educator at Northlands Girls’ High School, recently celebrated 14 years being cancer free.
Goris along with other learners and educators at the school recently raised R5 400 for the Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa (CHOC). Some learners also sold ribbons, badges and chocolates to raise funds for the foundation. In celebration of her journey, Goris also took part in the CANSA Shavathon, shaving her hair off.
“For me it was a celebration for me being cancer free for 14 years. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which is an aggressive cancer and I feel my faith in God was what helped me beat the disease. I now use my story to inspire the learners at the school and others with the message that early detection saves lives.
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“I think the work CHOC does is amazing and I witnessed that when I was going through my chemotherapy, seeing little children bravely fighting cancer. The learners came up with some lovely ideas and one in particular – selling ribbons – was well received,” she said.
Matric learner, Nina Welthagen, who is head of the heart pillar at the school (the school has three pillars exemplifying its core values) said she was pleased with how the learners supported the initiative.
“Shayana Pillay, sold ribbons which the girls could tie into their hair and it was incredible to see all the girls with the ribbons in assembly showing their support for CHOC. Charity is important to our school and one of our core values is compassion and I feel we exemplified that value for this drive,” she said.
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