October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. Different organisations and individuals worldwide actively participate in activities generating support for those affected by breast cancer and through awareness sessions on the importance of early detection.
Zaffran Dining Experience — a local Indian cuisine restaurant — partnered with iQatar and Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) to host a ‘Pink High Tea’ on Saturday.
The event was held to show support and spread awareness about cancer in general and breast cancer in particular besides raising funds for QCS.
Alyazi al-Kuwari, the CEO of Qatar Society for Rehabilitation and Special Needs, and herself a cancer survivor was a special guest.
“Having faith in God and then staying positive is the key to fighting such a grave illness. My biggest strength in my fight against cancer was my faith in God and a positive attitude,” al-Kuwari told an all-women audience seated outdoors and served with a special pink menu created by Zaffran Dining.
Going by the pink theme of the campaign, the participants wrote messages on pink coloured balloons and then released them in the air together as a group.
“I am the kind of person who always thinks positive. If something happens to me, I do not take it negatively. Staying positive will help you have more goals in life and this will give you strength to continue,” al-Kuwari told Community in a chat at the event.
She stressed the need for everyone to be aware of their health problems and to keep a vigilant check on any signs of cancer or other diseases.
It was by coincidence that she discovered her throat cancer. She used to get sore throat and regular flu. After about six months, she decided to see the doctor who detected a lump and referred her to a surgeon.
The surgeon did not tell her it was cancer. He suggested surgery to remove it. Al-Kuwari went to Germany to get further checks. The doctors there confirmed the presence of the lump and told her to come back after six months.
She however could not make it back to Germany after six months. Instead, she went after a year. By then, the lump had spread all over her throat and needed to be operated upon.
She came back to Doha and decided to take her sister along with her to Thailand for treatment. “I remained in Thailand for a month with only my sister to accompany me. I decided to stay positive. No one in my family knew. I used to send positive messages back to the family,” said al-Kuwari.
When she returned home, there were some people who knew about her illness and they asked how she managed to remain positive in face of such an ailment.
“I replied that being positive is part of life. If you do not stay positive then you lose everything. I then went back to Thailand for a kind of radio therapy. When I returned I thought I was cancer free now, but when I got it tested it was still there,” says al-Kuwari.
The doctor told her that they would need to do another surgery. She went back to her hotel room, shocked and depressed.
But then she recalled her time spent with people with physical disabilities and she realised that she needed to be strong. “I told myself I will do it, I will live through it and I thanked God for each and every minute I was alive,” al-Kuwari recalled.
The second surgery took nine hours. She was already on a strict diet and was getting therapy. It was difficult, but she stayed strong. It has been a year now. She keeps going back for regular check-ups.
She is still not 100 percent cancer free, but it is controlled and she is getting treatment to get rid of it. After the surgery, she gained weight but quickly reduced it by controlling her diet. Now she eats everything and only watches her diet.
“We should not be ashamed of our sickness and should not hide it. If you are suffering from cancer, you should find the right treatment your way and go to proper doctors, get yourself checked,” al-Kuwari advises people who are suffering from the disease.
Nitiin Shroff, the owner of Zaffran Dining, stressed the need for creating awareness about cancer.
“Not a lot of people know the symptoms of breast cancer and what to look for; so if you can help people with the early detection of [almost] any type of cancer, it is curable. But once it reaches a later stage it gets difficult,” said Shroff.
He said the event was meant to create awareness about the disease. It is necessary to participate in such events where you can help the world and the society to know that there is a way to cure this disease, he added.
The Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) received a lot of donations from the guests and people got to listen to al-Kuwari’s inspirational talk on how she fought it bravely by staying positive. QCS representatives told the participants about the techniques they can use to check themselves for any symptoms of breast cancer.
“As it was more focused on breast cancer awareness, we only invited women. We did it last year as well and we will keep doing it every year,” said Shroff.
Talking about his restaurant, Shroff said they are planning to go global, from America to Australia. The idea of molecular gastronomy was an experiment but it has gone well. “We did not know it would be a hit; however after the next month when the menu is going to change it is going to be a harder hit,” said Shroff.
“In this one year, we have learnt about what is doable and what is now and what we need to do and how to do it. It is all based on passion, so every day is a learning process,” he added.
“I would rather be more popular than being the best — because there is always someone better who would come, but popularity never goes down,” said Shroff.

Related Story