Remember Beads™ Start a Revolution in Russia
Beyond Breast Cancer: The Gift of Life On June 25, 2008, Martha traveled to Irkustk, Siberia as part of team from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to bring the message of hope to people fighting breast cancer in that part of the world. One of the challenges they faced as they organized a conference on breast health education and patient advocacy was that in the Russian language there is no word for cancer survivor. Cancer is still a death sentence in Russia. Fifty percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer will die from it. They named the conference Living Beyond Breast Cancer: The Gift of Life as a way to introduce the idea that you can live with cancer. Remember Beads™ served as a symbol of hope and connection between women that transcended language and culture. Every Women in the World “When I first started making Remember Beads, I said I wanted every woman in the world to have them. Presenting at the first conference on breast health education and patient advocacy in Siberia was a dream come true. “Beforehand, a bunch of my friends got together one night and made hundreds of Remember Beads™ for me to bring to the Russian conference. We made kits with hand-drawn instructions so that the people attending the conference in Siberia could make their own lanyards. “It was such an amazing experience. “Russian women do not talk about health . . . particularly not about breast cancer. But while we worked together to make Remember Beads, all the participants were talking together and really connecting. As we left the building there were 45 women with bright pink ribbon necklaces—a sight that stopped people in the streets. When the women saw the response from onlookers, they came up with the idea to get a huge group of students together at the beginning of the next college semester. They are planning a bead-making ession after which they hope to have hundreds of women walking through the city wearing Remember Beads, bringing attention and awareness to an entire population." -Martha Hayward Read more in Dana-Farber's publication Inside the Institute: "DFCI team teaches care in Russia". Read more in Martha's presentation for Day One of the conference: "Giving the Gift of Life". |
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DFCI team, Magnolia, Yelena, and Martha, in Boston |
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With a little wine and a lot of food fifteen awesome friends got together to make the beads for the Russians. |
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Yelena welcomed Zhanna and Martha to her country after they had traveled 42 hours from Boston to Siberia. It was well worth the trip! |