Kenyan Cancer Survivor Devotes Life to Helping Others
Childhood cancer survivor Sidney Chahonyo is executive director of Hope for Cancer Kids in Kenya.
Sidney Chahonyo learned he had a rare form of cancer when he was about to leave his home in Kenya for college. He was 19 years old. The year was 2004.
Instead of studying engineering in the United States, Chahonyo stayed in Kenya to be treated for cancer of the post nasal space. The post nasal space connects the back of the nose to the throat.
While he got radiation and chemotherapy, Chahonyo’s friends were away at university. The ones who were still around did not understand what he was going through. Chahonyo felt alone.
After cancer treatment, pursuing an engineering degree no longer seemed important. The first thing Chahonyo wanted to do was volunteer at a children’s hospital. He wanted to help other young people with cancer.
“After going through that, you look at life from a different lens,” Chahonyo says. “And I started looking for ways to give back, to help people who were going through what I went through.”
Chahonyo did whatever needed to be done at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. He played with the kids, talked to their parents, and delivered medicines and equipment.
Fellow cancer patients in Kenya
His volunteer experience opened Chahonyo’s eyes to the difficulties faced by sick children in Kenya. He realized he had been fortunate. His family had been able to afford the best available treatment at a private hospital.
Kenyatta National Hospital is a public hospital. Families go there if they cannot afford private medical care. Chahonyo estimates that about 7 out of 10 people in Kenya get care through public hospitals.
“You see the need they have because they come from very low-income backgrounds,” Chahonyo says. “They need things like transport to get to the hospital and accommodations when they are there for long outpatient procedures. Those are some of the things that made me realize how privileged I was.”
Hope for Cancer Kids
So, Chahonyo looked for other ways to help. He joined the board of Hope for Cancer Kids. This organization supports children with cancer in Kenya. While he volunteered, Chahonyo worked in different industries. He had jobs in banking, non-governmental organizations, and human resources. He was even a farmer, raising long cayenne peppers for export.
In January 2023, Chahonyo became executive director of Hope for Cancer Kids.
Its main activity is the National Hospital Insurance Fund support program. It raises funds to support children and teens whose families cannot pay for cancer treatment. In 2023 the organization supported about 335 children per month.
The organization provides education about childhood cancer. The program focuses its efforts on childhood cancer survivors, community health care providers, and the general public. It also works with the National Cancer Control Program to develop materials to teach health care providers, caregivers, and the general public how to identify signs and symptoms of cancer in children. The aim is to help providers recognize cancer early when it is more treatable.
Education for the general public works to correct misconceptions about cancer. A cancer diagnosis in Kenya can have a stigma attached to it.
Sidney Chahonyo is a part of many international childhood cancer advocacy groups including this group of St. Jude global partners photographed in 2022.
“People tell their kids not to play with children who have cancer because they think their children will get sick,” Chahonyo says. “They feel like you’ve either done something bad to get cancer, you’ve been cursed by someone, or it’s witchcraft.”
Art therapy is another program offered by Hope for Cancer Kids. It allows children to express their feelings through art.
“Art therapy gives kids a chance to be children,” Chahonyo says. “Everything about their lives right now is just about cancer. It also helps them mentally. They can put all their feelings on paper.”
One of the organization’s biggest projects is opening a housing center so families have somewhere to stay while their children get treatment. The center will provide food and transportation, too.
“There’s no point in giving people access to treatment if they have to travel 400–500 kilometers (about 250–310 miles) away from home for outpatient procedures and follow-up appointments,” Chahonyo says.
Sometimes children do not finish treatment because their family cannot make the trip. The organization hopes this center will help. Currently, just over half of cancer patients in Kenya stop treatment before it is finished. This is called treatment abandonment.