Volunteering with World Child Cancer

Shanice Brown works at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and in 2018, she chose to lend her skills to support children in Myanmar when volunteering with World Child Cancer.

As a Pediatric Histopathology Biomedical Scientist, Shanice chose to volunteer abroad for the first time with us at our twinning partnership hospital in Myanmar, Mandaly Children’s Hospital.

This was my first time volunteering abroad, so I definitely had to overcome some nerves. I was most worried about language barriers and whether I would be able to quickly familiarise myself with a different laboratory set up in a new country with a new culture. I quickly adapted myself but there were things that we take for granted in the UK that simply were not always available in Myanmar.

Shanice spoke about how a lack of access to basic tools not only prevented the team from working how they wanted to but also how it forced her to learn new ways of working to cope and overcome the challenges she and the team faced.

As well as sharing my own experiences with my peers in Myanmar, it was also a great learning curve for myself. We, even as professionals, take things for granted in developed countries such as the UK – simple things like a working internet connection could not be relied upon in Myanmar. Hopefully my time was not only beneficial to the team in Mandalay Children’s Hospital but will also help me to do my job better here in the UK.

Volunteers like Shanice are the backbone of the twinning partnerships World Child Cancer creates between hospitals in developed countries and those in the developing countries in which we work. By sharing knowledge from experienced professionals, we can enhance the quality of care provided to children with cancer around the world.

I was proud to partner and give time to World Child Cancer as I value what they do. Children’s cancer, unfortunately, is a big part of my current role and I find it saddening that children could potentially miss out on valuable treatment due to a simple lack of training and resources.

World Child Cancer is currently hosting an appeal to give children with cancer the Gift of Growing Up. All children, no matter where they are born, deserve equal access to the best possible treatment and care which is why Shanice chose to volunteer with World Child Cancer and you can make a difference too by donating today. Every gift you make between now and 30th June will be doubled by the UK Government meaning your support will go twice as far.

By giving £20 you could cover the costs for a volunteer healthcare professional like Shanice to travel between hospitals in a local area to help train their peers.  

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