Front cover ( wrapper )

It is quite a “feel “ to be at the threshold of the th25 Year of the organization. It was built

literally brick by brick and to bring in each brick

it had taken tons of effort . What is heartening is

the fact if the founders got in one brick , host of

friends , well wishers , volunteers ,

philanthropists and people at large brought in

trucks of them and cemented the structure with

warmth ,love and brotherhood. Today at the thend of the 24 year if we stand at where we are

it is thanks to this collective Endeavour.

Breast cancer is the single largest type of cancer seen in thIndia accounting for 10% of all cases . In the 24 year our

work has been intense with respect to this type of cancer.

Among the 299 cases taken up for sponsorship this year

,159 are patients with Breast cancer. Our one on one

teaching breast cancer basics project, Pudhuvasantham,

has reached 37684 women ! The Second one thousand free

mammograms project has been launched this October .

And our volunteers have taken the message about breast

cancer to rural depths in Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu.

The support of treatment to 2000plus patients over last 24 years has brought in hundreds to the “Cancer

Victor “status . It is a pleasure & sense of satisfaction having them gather at the cancer victors' Day , this year

over 300 of them turned up for the event. The Cancer free tomorrow campaign in schools went full steam in

Mumbai and large number of children painted what they learnt at the World cancer day paint contest both in

Chennai & Mumbai

Screening for cancer by the way of Pap smears and oral examination finds good response in the Mumbai

sector and addition of colposcopy unit has enhanced detection. In the last year we have also found new

companions for the fight against cancer at several places in Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu and folks here are

getting active both as educators and finding forum for education.

We are thankful that we are energized by the donations of large hearted individuals & organizations , some

doing it year after year for last so many years. This coupled with unstinted volunteer effort has steered the th24th year to a happy ending. The 25 year being a milestone one, needs to be very fruitful and we are sure

that you guys out there , with all warmth & affection , will make it a memorable one !

Vasantha Memorial Cancer Centre,

Chennai

It was our ambition to provide optimum and quality

treatment to everyone irrespective of their financial

status. And it happened 9 years ago on 27th August

2008 when we opened our charitable cancer

hospital at ashok nagar , Chennai., the Vasantha

memorial cancer centre.

Though located in poor socio economic locality and

being seemingly very small, the perception changes

as one comes in beyond the glass doors. A clean and

a well equipped centre with well trained staff await

the patients and provide what is best for the patient.

We have registered 1350 new cases with an overall

turnover of 8000 plus. And what is most gratifying

is that over the years a steady number of patients

are transforming to cancer victors.

In a measure to increase support to patient with the

commonest type of blood cancer which people of

all ages, Chronic myeloid leukemia, we have

launched this year , Nalam Aayiram Project – well

being in a thousand . Patients irrespective of their

financial status will be provided with the drug

Imatinib which has to be taken lifelong, at Rs.1000/

per month . The second aayiram Mammogram

project was launched this October . The project is

supported Sri Matha Trust and will offer free

mammograms to 1000 women till September 2018

. Besides treatment of patients we at the centre are also

constantly conducting workshops and training a number

of cancer educators. A series of workshops were held in

the last year to train educators for our Pudhuvasantham

Project and seminars were also held to train the trainers.

thTo mark the 9 Anniversary of the centre a screening

camp for cancers in women was held which examined 34 thwomen. A week prior to that on 20 Aug 17, Vasanth

Uttam -foremost person awards were presented to Mr. V.

Krishnamoor thy , founder, Sri Matha trust,

Mr.B.Rangarajan, Coimbatore & Mr. Anthony Sahayaraj ,

Shanthi Seva, Dindigul by the chief guest

Mr.Karunakaran,,NNOS foundaion .This was followed by a

drama by Madras Naadaga company - Rendum onnum

nalu

thAt the 10 year , this charitable hospital is poised for

greater growth and hopes to bring benefit to a large

number of cancer affected & pursue its activities to

prevent the occurrence of cancer

Patients assisted last year : 299

Total patients supported till date : 2017

Vasantha Memorial Cancer Centre , Mumbai

127 patients visited the centre for financial help for

treatment of cancer. Many who came were referred by

other NGOs at Tata Hospital or learnt about us by word of

mouth from other patients who have got our assistance.

(In the last 6 years, 552 patients have visited the centre &

many have been supported for treatment).

41 Pap smear camps were conducted this year at the

centre and 588 women were screened by our

gynecologists. Prior to the screening, the women were

given the talk on cancers in women and also taught

Breast self exam on a hand held model. 27 women were

advised for colposcopy. With the support from AID

(Association for India Development) a digital colposcopy thwas purchased by the trust. This was inaugurated on 30

June at the centre so that the women who come for

screening could also avail this facility. 7 colposcopies

have been conducted at the centre since then. (For the

last 6 years 2632 women have undergone pap smear

tests at our centre)

299 men were screened by Dental surgeons in 22 camps

held at the centre on Sundays. In many Oral sub mucous

fibrosis was picked up & these men were then counseled

and sent to Tata Memorial Hospital for follow up. A few

pre cancer lesions were also advised for follow up at

other hospitals. (From May 2014, 60 oral camps were

held at the centre and 1137 men & women were

examined).

ndThis support group was inaugurated on 22 August at

the centre for the Breast cancer survivors & patients. The

first meet had 35 survivors & a few patients and 15 of our

volunteers attended. Dr. Garvit of Tata Memorial

Hospital & Dr. Namita Pandey of Hiranandani Hospital

spoke to them on general health care after chemotherapy

& treatment and also gave them many useful tips. There

were also games and entertainment followed by snacks.

thThe second meet held on 18 September was attended

Pap smear camps:

Oral screening camps:

Vasantha Mitra: support group for Breast cancer

survivors & patients

by 25 patients and 10 volunteers. The Guest speaker this

time was Ms. Shamini Gupta, Founder & Director of

Shamini Yogalaya. She taught simple breathing

techniques (Pranayams) and a few yoga exercises. She

also spoke on general nutrition. The session ended with

lots of entertainment & snacks were also served.

The third meet coincided with Diwali. So the centre was

decked up to receive the women and 54 of them and 12

volunteers attended this session. The Guest speaker this

time was Ms. Hvovi Bhagwagar, Clinical Psychologist &

therapist. The packed audience listened to her as she

spoke on the mental trauma that cancer affected undergo

and gave tips on how to handle them .how. The gathered

women opened up with their problems and the speaker

advised them appropriately. Lots of games were then

played & Diwali greetings gifts & snacks were given to all.

127 new patients , 41 Pap smear camps screening 588 women, 22 oral camps checking 299 men , 3 Breast cancer support group meetings & christmas party

Awareness prior to oral cancer detection camp

Breast cancer support meeting in process

Christmas Party at the centre - 21 Dec 2016

Xmas party at VMCC was full of noise, fun, laughter. 24

children aged 6 to 16 and undergoing treatment at Tata

Memorial Hospital brought cheer to all volunteers and made

the centre lively. The centre was well decorated with balloons,

ribbons and stars. The children were welcomed with

chocolates and party music began playing. There was team

game of decorating Christmas tree on chart paper, followed by

other ones. Our staff Vanita came in as Santa Claus with a bag

full of goodies and children were delighted to take pictures

with her. Late Ms Vidya Kamat had sponsored the goodies gift

bags, Volunteers Geetha Sitaraman and Shantha brought in

the snacks and refreshments. Volunteers Valli and Latha arranged for the games and craft materials. It was a truly

memorable day.

Activites at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai

The Trust's association with Tata Memorial Hospital continues to grow with our help desk

at Golden Jubilee block entering the tenth year. Our ever smiling staff, Ms Prabhavathi

and Ms Namita, are now familiar to the patients, staff and doctors which has had a

proportional effect on the referrals for financials aids as well. Apart from seeking

financial aid, on an average, 50 patients visit our help desk seeking help on directions,

logistics, accommodation etc. 317 patients have been given financial assistance this

year alone and total has risen to 1570.

Our staff and volunteers also engage in personal hygiene counseling and this year 778

patients have been counseled. For the post-operative breast cancer patients, our

volunteers teach suture and drain care along with physiotherapy exercises, 372 patients

have attended these sessions, this year.

such as Rose Day and International Women's Day, gifts are distributed to the inpatients at Children and

Female Ward accompanied by a celebrity from the tinsel world. Our Trust too joins the Diwali Party organized by the

Hospital with a gift hamper of diyas and goodies. In the month of November, in association with the Indian Navy, cancer

patients are taken on a harbor cruise, the gifted Navy cap is worn with pride by them during the ride.

On special days

Activities at the Tata Memorial Hospital (ACTREC) at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

The activities of our Trust attracted the interest of Dr Amin,

research scientist at TATA Actrec, Khargar & Dr Geethanjali Amin,

visiting Gynaecologist at our Wednesday Well Women Clinic

furthered it. Dr Amin in turn got us introduced to Dr. Prashant

Bhat, Medical Superintendant, ACTREC, to whom we expressed

our wish to replicate at ACTREC, the activities done by the Trust at

TMH Parel. Meetings & correspondences followed & finally we

were offered to run a help desk from 9 am to 1 PM on Tuesdays

and Thursdays which may soon become a full time help desk, as

additional space has been earmarked for construction already.

In the meantime, three new volunteers residing at

Khargar and one from Vashi joined our Trust and we

rdopened the help desk on Thursday, 23 Feb 2017. Since

then, our volunteers have been able to give personal

hygiene counseling to over 600 patients, both at the

chemo ward and at Vasundhara, the patient home. The

volunteers also closely liaison with the medico social

worker on financial aid and other activities, Partial aid

has been given to 10 patients so far.

As the days went by more activities were added by the way

of craft work and story-telling for the children at St.

Jude's home for children besides activities that interest

Adult patients such as Quiz, games, karaoke singing etc.

These are done along with our other volunteers doing

similar activities at KEM and the centre. Since May 2017,

the volunteers have been conducting one child and one

adult activity every month and 13 such sessions have

been done till date. We foresee increase in activity in the

coming months.

Activities at KEM hospital, Parel

Every Wednesday, the trust volunteers can be seen thgoing around the hematology ward in the 10 floor of

KEM annexe building, speaking to the cancer patients,

counseling them on personal hygiene and also

interacting with the doctors. Based on the

recommendation of Dr Chandrakala, the Trust arranges

for supply of chemotherapy drugs to blood cancer

patients.

Wednesday is also the day for the weekly rations, Trust

has been providing to the in-patients coming from

outside the city and staying in lodgings around the

hospital, a weekly ration of rice, wheat, dal and

occasionally sugar under the Mother and Child Project.

The Trust is thankful to Mrs Vimala Rao from Kalina, Mrs.

Kamala Rajaram and Mr Rajaram from Vikroli, the main

sponsors of this activity.

Apart from the above, the trust volunteers also engage

the children in drawing and craft work during every

alternate Wednesday visit. The children participate with

enthusiasm and the activity greatly relieves their stress.

Earlier this was being carried out in a small space in the

pathology lab. Now KEM has opened an exclusive thchildren day care ward in the 11 floor – this contains a

separate play area with pleasing décor and is well

stocked with toys, building blocks and early education

kits. No sooner our volunteers start spreading out the

craft materials, the children eagerly join them. Various

simple paper craft activities are done every week like

dinosaurs, fish, tortoise, decorative pen holder,

pinwheel, funny masks etc; craft activities based on

impending events or festivals- diyas or kandeels during

the Diwali, Christmas tree, kites during Makar Sankranti,

flags during Independence day etc. The children and the

volunteers very much look forward to these sessions.

Rose day

t was celebrated at Tata Memorial hospital , Parel with

TV actress Divyaalakshmi a popular face of the comedy

sitcom FIR & for her role as Rani Sajjabai in Rana Pratap

,as the celebrity guest. Colourful knitted woolen caps,

pen sets, fruits & Roses were distributed in the

children's ward & women's ward. At Tata Memorial

Centre, Kharghar our volunteers distributed ceramic

mugs along with the roses to the patients.

Cancer victors day

2th Feb ,Chennai

125 victors gathered to celebrate their second

common birthday and let know the world that there

is life after cancer on Sunday morning at Sivagami

Pethachi auditorium, Chennai. Nine special guests,

achievers by themselves in different fields,

interacted with these victors in groups of 20 for 30

minutes. The charged atmosphere got fully

electrified when each of the 125 victors lighted a

lamp and placed it on stage. The assembled

300plus were completely moved at this sight .

Guests, each one of them, were moved, motivated

& inspired hearing the tales of triumph of the

victors and their speeches told it all. Cultural

groups gave spirited performances. The event

ended with sumptuous lunch and victors were

loaded with gifts on their way home. About 50

volunteers ensured the smooth & successful

conduct of the event.

th11 February 2017

150 cancer victors attended and importantly 30 of

our sponsored patients taking treatment also came

for the event held at Mysore association hall

,Matunga. The Honorable guests were Mr. and Mrs.

Muralidharan of GKR Foundation, N.G.S. Ramesh

of Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd besides

Mr. Mukundan of Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure

Pvt Ltd and Mr. Surendra Behera and Ms Suparna

Sharma of STCI. Ms Indira Krishnan and Mr.

Anshuman Malhotra from the tinsel world added

charm to the event.

All the guests addressed the audience and appreciated

the Trust's sincere efforts for the cause of cancer and our

awareness programs throughout the country. They also

wholeheartedly rendered their support. Events included

Bollywood and hip hop dance forms performed by

students of different colleges and ladies groups.

The beneficiaries got to interact with the donors telling

them their battle against Cancer and also to thanked them

directly for the support. The donors were happy with the

interaction and were humbled by their grit and

determination.

Finally it was time for the distribution of gift hampers.

Each invitee was given a flower vase with five roses – these

roses came from a pool of contributions by way of rose

coupons, hence each vase displayed the name of the

donor.1369 rose coupons, each at Rs.100/- , were sold

by our volunteers enthusiastically. Octogenarian Mr.

Radhakrishnan sold 27 books & Hari Music Foundation

took 25 books. There were also given a variety of gifts

Lunch & fruit hampers were also provided. What a great

day ! -Latha Kumar, Volunteer, VMT

Mrs. Shanthi in villages of Thirvalluvar dist

Mrs. Sahayamary in Dindigul Dist

Ms. Shruti Sapre in Sangameshwar nr Ratnagiri

Ms. Shravani Chavan in Mumbai

Pudhuvasantham Pudhu vasantham - Breast Cancer awareness on a one

on one basis - is the provision of basic information

about breast cancer & teaching breast self exam on a

hand held model to small groups less than 5 in number

.This Project was launched in Oct 2008 and in the first

phase of one & half years it had reached out to 37,000

women. It was revived in July 2015 and this time around

it had paid educators to reach out information to women

about breast cancer and in the first year it covered nearly

20,000 women.

In Oct 16 this project received the support from

Association For India's development ( AID through its

Chicago & Boston chapters. In the 13 months after the

assistance began the project has covered 37684 women

from 5 nodes : Chennai, Dindigul, Coimbatore , Mumbai

& Sangmeshwar. In the last 3 -4 months almost 100 –

150 women are reached every day !

It has been our aim to reach as many women as possible

& we opened up more nodes . Dindigul was opened in the

Chennai sector & Sangameshwar near Ratnagiri in the

Mumbai sector. At each node workshops were held and

interested women underwent rigorous training to

become educators

In Chennai training workshops were held in October,

March & June. Though a large number of women came in

for the orientation talks the number actually selected

were few. In Chennai there are about 16 educators and

of these only 8 are active. Mrs. Shanthi amongst them is

the leader who by herself has covered 6165 women in

the last year .

)

Ms. Vijaya Mahendran in Chennai

At Coimbatore 2 workshops were held and 11 educators

were enrolled. Sadly just 2 of them educated women in

their first 2 months. It is only Mrs. Meenakshi Selvaraj,

who is active now.

Two workshops for training women were held in Dindigul

in Sept 2016 and March 2017. Shanthi Seva , a local

organization had showed interest in the project and

helped us to rope in women in the area for the training .

Both these workshops were conducted by

Mrs.Meenakshi Selvaraj , our volunteer from

Coimbatore. From the 70 women interested 22 were

selected and of these 11 are very active. It is very

interesting that they have formed groups of 3 – 4 and

take up one village at a time. They reach each village and

then over the day cover it street by street. Their effort has

paid off and they have highest number of women

educated in this year , nearly 20,000!

.

Mumbai sector reached out to women in Pune and

Sangmeshwar and the latter succeeded. At

Sangmeshwar there are about 12 educators now who are

steadily covering women but have not reached the

zealous state as of Dindigul so far. Pune holds promise to

become a node in the future

The project commenced in Chennai , Coimbatore &

Mumbai in October. While Coimbatore was the leader in

the first month, Chennai slowly took over and by June

2017 Dindigul was leading. The number of women

reached has been on the increase steadily.

The trust is on the lookout to add more nodes and enroll

more women as educators and reach the message to

greater depths . To make this happen it needs more

women power and generous contributions and it

appeals for both .

Pudhuvasantham - one on one - breast cancer basics teaching - has reached nearly 95.000 women, 37,684 in the last year alone. To reach more contact : 7200414446Ms. B.Kala In Pudukotai Dist.

thWorld Cancer Day , 4 FebIn Chennai

To highlight the need of the much lacking physical activity

in today's children and the need for this in large quantities

to keep cancer at bay , a paint contest on the theme “

Games & exercises keep cancer away “ was held at Rosary

matric school santhome on the world cancer day.

Mr.Keshav, cartoonist, the Hindu, Mrs. Usha Elangovan,

Art teacher & Mr. S.Elayaraja, famed artist judged the

painting drawn by 219 students from 28 schools. While

the judges scrutinized the drawings the children had a

step by step interactive process to learn the ways of

preventing cancer. The parents as usual were given a

briefing on cancer while the children painted

Cancer Free Tomorrow This campaign begun a decade ago takes basic

information about cancer to school children and

motivates them to bring about a cancer free tomorrow.

From June to September it is through a power pint thpresentation in schools and on world cancer day, 4 Feb ,

there is a reinforcement through a paint contest.

CFT talk started in Dec 16 with Saraswati Vidyalaya in

Chembur where 190 boys and girls participated. Then a

school at Vajreshwari, a tourist spot for hot springs

about 50 miles from Mumbai, was chosen & 120 girls

attended the session here. The actual momentum began

in July when the schools opened after the summer

vacation. The campaign covered 46 schools in which

more than 16000 students benefitted in a total of over

100 sessions.

In Mumbai 4 new schools were added this year and 1 in

Navi Mumbai. At Michaels High school, Kurla 660 boys

and girls were spoken to on 4 Saturdays. Teachers from

this school also underwent cancer screening at the

centre. Special mention has to be made about 2 schools

viz. CES Chembur English HS & Domnic Savio HS at

Ghatkopar where the authorities not only took keen

interest in conducting CFT but also arranged an

Awareness talk for Secondary teachers at the spur of the

moment..

This year the awareness spread to Devrukh village in

Sangameshwar of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra,

In Mumbai

about 450 Kms away from Mumbai. The trust had already

made an impact in this sleepy village by conducting

awareness talk to women and men last year and this

paved the way for CFT talk in 5 schools, 2 colleges and a

madarasa during August and October. It was heartening

to note that the students from this village knew basics of

cancer and the ill effects of tobacco.

This year it was a sort of washout, only 6 schools

permitting us to have this campaign in their schools. But

at places where it was held it evoked a good response

In Chennai

In Mumbai

Painting Competitions were held simultaneously at Vikhroli and Chembur on the

occasion of World Cancer day. At Chembur it was held at the Pestom Sagar

Citizens ground where about 140 students from 13 schools participated from

std 1 to 10. The theme of the painting was “Eat Right and prevent Cancer”. Ms.

Harini Nischal, a professional artist & Mr. Anil Vidwan, a retired professional

artist judged the paintings .At Vikhroli 7 schools took part at the Madhyamik

high school hall. 115 students participated in the paint contest. Artist Gira

Dalwadi and Gajanan Kabade, alumni of JJ school of arts were the judges.

Cancer awareness – looking beyond MumbaiDuring the last one year, VMT Mumbai has cast a wider

net for the cancer awareness outreach; our teams of

volunteers have penetrated the interiors of

Maharashtra cover ing severa l v i l lages in

Sangameshwar, Palghar, Pen and Pune- A total of 1400

men and women have been educated on the basic signs

and symptoms of cancer and the women . In addition

PAP smear camps and oral cancer screening camps

were also organized at these places.

The response in all these places has been overwhelming

& some of the women, who attended the breast cancer

awareness sessions under our Pudhu Vasantham

Project, later undertook the training program and have

become breast cancer educators themselves and are

further spreading awareness in the surrounding

villages.

The camps were organized by the initiative of

enthusiastic octogenarian Mr. Rajaram Jadhav. During

the course of 3 days in March 2017 there were a series

of meetings with social worker Arte, Block Education

Officer apart from Doctors such as Deepa Pawaskar ,

Smita Chodankar and trained nurses & several other

local village heads.

Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri District:

Site No of persons

reached

BDO office, Sangameshwar - staff and officers

55 women & 45 men

BDO office – gram sevikas,

Anganwadi workers

55 women

BDO office – nursing staff, Asha

workers

130 women

Pharmacy college Students and

faculty

44 women

Matru Mandir 22 women

Dive Puthru village 16 women Marathe colony 16 women

Banmoli , Kudavli, Kos umb,Rewawadi, Vashe villages

125 women

Strawberry farm labourers & cashew factory, Sadavali

25 women & 20 men

Hospital at Phungus - nursing staff and Asha workers

35 women

Help Academy (trains villagers to deal with snake bites, drowning etc.)

11 women

Rajendra college of Engg, Adarsha school, Devrukh village

11 Lecturers & 34 students

Ratnagiri – Maharishi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha

42 teachers

The local organizers were very hospitable & ensured a

very comfortable stay so that our volunteers could cope

with the hectic schedule , we could reach more than 700

people awareness & conduct a cancer screening camp

for 17 women in 6 days over 3 visits! . Sangameshwar

sure holds a lot of promise.

VMT staff Ms Prabhavathi, a

native of Pen, had arranged a one-day awareness talk

and screening camp in April 2017. Volunteers

Jayalakshmi, Kamla, Shravani conducted the awareness

Pen, Raigad District -

session. Dr Reena Upadhyay, Gynecologist and Drs

Shruti & Ashwini, Dental Surgeons conducted the Pap

smear and oral screening resp. Talk at the local

temple, attended by 22 men was on the ill-effects of

tobacco, followed by oral screening. This was followed

by breast cancer awareness talk for 50 women at a local

school along with Pap smear and oral cancer screening.

Excellent hospitality extended by the hosts, coupled

with good response from participants got us good

reasons to cheer.

Around 100 odd kms from Mumbai

is Palghar. Sathya Sai trust has adopted many villages

there and have medical and welfare activities for the thpeople there. On 7 May volunteer Kamla, had

arranged for breast cancer awareness talks at

Ambenagar and Wadhna villages which was attended

by 40 and 26 women resp.. The women were eager for a

screening camp as they did not have any facilities. A

fortnight later, we arranged for a Pap smear screening

camp. 50 women from Ambenagar and 53 from

Wadhna were screened by Dr.Reena Upadhyay on two

different days which made us realize that having an

awareness camp before conducting a detection camp

leads to better response of the women.

We were invited to give a talk to the wives of thArmy Jawans at Pune Cantonment – on 6 April,

volunteers Kamla along with Jayalakshmi addressed a

Palghar District:

Pune city:

gathering of about 75 women and this was very well

received. The same day, Kamla's sister had also arranged

a talk in her Housing Society Kunal Icon at Pimpale

Saudagar, where 25 women attended. The response

was very positive and at the request of Ms Parkhi , a

participant of the first session, second session was

organized a month later for the 16 odd women who had

missed the first one. There was also a talk given to 16

women who had come for a yoga session at Dehu Road at

the request of Dr.Shilpa. 20 women who were training

under a Mother and Child Project at Karwenagar, were

educated on Breast cancer. In Sep 2017 covered 60

women at Walegaon, organized by Ms Jayashree Dhopte,

who had attended our earlier talk. Thus, during the

course of 4 visits, 212 women were educated on breast

cancer & women specific cancers.

On the whole, the response for these out-station

programs is very encouraging – the organizers and

participants have shown a keenness to learn more and

believe in the maxim “prevention is better than cure”

- Latha Kumar, volunteer

Around Tamil NaduthTuticorin , 27 & 28th Oct 17 : We were invited by SPIC to

create awareness about cancer to their employees. Mrs.

Meenakshi Selvaraj conducted a total of 11 sessions in

the office premises of which the last one was exclusively

for women and also generated the highest attendance ,

100 women !While Meenakshi was tackling the employees

, Mrs. Sagayam & Ms. Kumareshwari went around the

entire the SPIC township teaching breast cancer basics to

women staying there on a one on one basis .

Our Awareness programs also found place at Salim Shoes ndin Ranipet on 22 April and at a medical camp in

thMannargudi on 19 Nov .

thSummer camp for children- 9 May 2017

Unlike the previous years when summer camps were

held at our centre, this time we held at Kalwa, near

Thane for the poor children who are being helped by

Vision Rescue. Valli & Latha had organized fun activities

for 33 children. They were divided into two groups, the

older ones made a house with the help of ice cream

sticks, decorative materials on a card paper while the

younger ones made a beetle on a red card paper and

black. This was followed by games .It was great fun.

Later, the group of the older children was quizzed about

tobacco and cigarette – the children were aware of the ill-

effects of tobacco as they had witnessed at close

quarters, the effect it had on their fathers, uncles and

neighbors who smoked and consumed tobacco.

Other Activities in Mumbai:

Street Play: 03.02.2017

thInternational Women's Day – 8 March 2017

Vision Rescue, a NGO working in the low income group

dwelling areas such as Govandi, Kalwa etc wanted us to

do an awareness program on harmful effects of tobacco

for the people at Kalwa slums. Volunteers of the trust

with students of DAV College Bhandup put up a short 10

minute street play at two places .The strong message

delivered with tunes of apt Bollywood numbers like

Dum Maro Dum, Beedi Jala le etc… attracted the men

folk and they seem to have understood. Few men asked

us where they could do the oral check up to find out if

anything was wrong! This was the response we had

hoped for!. Volunteer Shanta also gave a talk to the

people gathered on the signs & symptoms of oral

cancer. 75 to 80 people were present at both the places.

After the street plays, there was also an awareness

session for the women. The 23 who women attended

had lot of questions which were answered patiently .

Volunteers Latha, Shanta & Anju distributed coffee

mugs to 50 patients at the female ward of Tata Hospital,

Parel. A day earlier, 24 patients at the female ward in

Tata Hospital, Kharghar were gifted coffee mugs by our

volunteers Dini, Praveen, Valli & Latha..

A small party was also organized for women cancer

patients at our centre at Vikhroli. 22 of them had a blast

with songs, games and dances. There was a Lavni group

dance performance to popular Marathi numbers that

added to the excitement. A cake was cut and gifts (Bed

sheet & pillow) sponsored by Radha were distributed

and it ended with a sumptuous lunch.

Screening Camps in Mumbai outside Vikhroli CentreIn addition to screening camps held every Wednesday at

the Vikhroli centre, camps have been held at other places

too such as residential societies, colleges and in low

income group dwelling areas such as Reay Road, Govandi

and Kalwa. Screening camps were held in association

with NGOS & organizations such as Vision Rescue, Lions

Club Mumbai Airport etc.. Along with the detection

camp, breast cancer awareness talks were given and

women were also taught breast self exam using hand

held model. During the last one year 11 such camps were

held in Mumbai screening a total of 264 women

FundsGodrej & Boyce Mfg Ltd

Gateway Distriparks Limited (GDL)

HDFC Ltd's

STCI Finance Ltd

GKR foundation

CVV Iyengar

Memorial Charitable trust

Association for India's

Development

has been a huge support for

the trust since 2013. Their employees run the marathon

for our cause & raise funds & most of the time they are

ranked the first in the corporate challenge. This year the

funds received from them was more than 35 lakhs & from

Pirojsha Godrej Foundation an addition of Rs. 5 lakhs

, a leading

integrated logistics facilitator in India is promoted by Mr.

Prem Kishan Dass Gupta and his family has a pan-India

presence. Under the Corporate Social Responsibility

headed by Mrs. Mamta Gupta the trust was aided this year

with 25 lakhs for proposed patient home.

benevolence for the Trust has been for a long

period now. Their support has been for not only patient

care but also for awareness programs. The trust would like

to thank Ms. Ziaa Lalkaka for her initiative & belief in our

cause. Their generosity this year too has been for 15 lakhs.

is another corporate which has been

funding the Mumbai chapter for patient care at Tata

Memorial Hospital since 2014. Their funds for patient care

have increased every year , this year they have also

disbursed funds for awareness programs . The trust

thanks Ms. Suparna Sharma for her initiative .This year

STCI has donated 11 lakhs !Universal Medicare Pvt. Ltd. &

STUP Consultants Pvt. Ltd. sponsored for lab equipments

for the Chennai centre.

The Support of continues for Patient care

& Cancer victors Day . The generosity of

is carrying on towards Salaries

of Staff at VMCC, Chennai .The

(AID) through its Boston & Chicago Chapter

has supported our Pudhuvasantham Project in a big way

There are many regular donors who aid the trust for

specific projects and this has in turn helped us sustain

these projects. The trust would like to thank Mrs. Usha

Lala, Mrs. & Mr. Rajaram for their constant support. In

addition there are many donors and many of them are our

own volunteers who have time and again supported us

with huge funds individually.

Make a Difference - Donate

I /we ................................................................

would like to contribute Rs. ............................/-

towards

General Fund

Treatment of patients

Awareness Programs

Screening Camps

Staff Salaries

Hospital Equipment

Cancer Victors’ day event

Name..............................................................

Address...................................................................

................................................................................

.

................................................................................

................................................................................

..Mobile ................................................................

Cheques /DD should be raised in favour of Vasantha Memorial Trust and post to our offices in Chennai or Mumbai

Donations can also be sent by Bank Transfer

Indian origin : Axis Bank Ashok Nagar ,Chennai,A/c No. 913010029370661 , IFSC Code : UTIB00285

From Abroad : Canara Bank ,Ashok Nagar ,Chennai ,a/c No. 0975101051971 ,swift code CNRBINBBBID. ,IFSC code : CNRB0000975 ,FCRA Reg No. 075901337.

All Donations are exempt from Income tax under section 80G

If bank transfers are made please send an email which has your name & postal address

Awards & Recognition

Jayalakshmi Krishnan ,

Vasantha Memorial trust

Dr. Ramanathan Jayaraman ,

trustee

Lions Club International celebrated their 100 years in a

mega event at Lokhandwala Gardens, Versova, titled

POWER of 100.. Jayalakshmi Krishnan was awarded

the Lion Shatabdi award at this grand function.

?a. Certificates of Appreciation for Oral cancer

awareness & screening program by: MCHI CREDAI,

Women's wing ,Rustomjee Group ,Ajmera Group,

Wadhwa Terra form Realty

b. Certificate of Appreciation from Ramanand Arya

D.A.V. College, Bhandup for cancer awareness &

screening camp

c. Certificate of Appreciation for voluntary work at

the hospital from Tata Memorial Centre- Department

of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.

Mg.Trustee thOn 9 Sept 17 Kanchi KamaKoti peetham presented

Dr. Ramanathan Jayaraman the title Jan Seva Ratna in

appreciation of his service to the community

Free MammogramsUnder 2nd Aayiram Mammogram project

In support with Sri Matha Trust

At Chennai

for patients with

chronic Myeloid

leukemia

Drug 'Imatinib “

400mg /day for a month at

Rs. 1000 irrespective of financial status

Consultation with Hematologist FREE & Complete

blood count Free once in 3 months

C o n t a c t Va s a n t h a M e m o r i a l C a n c e r

Centre,Chennai at 9791048379

Chronic myeloid leukemia is a common type of

blood cancer which affects people of all ages. A

drug called ' Imatinib “ brings the disease under

total control, but it has to be taken lifelong.

Imatinib is in the price range from Rs 6,500 to

13,500 for a month's course. Not many can afford

this amount which is recurring expense all life.

Nalam Aayiram