CCI president new year message

Dear Friends,

As we wrap up the year 2023 and transition into 2024, I wish everyone a restful break and moments of joy amidst the festivities. Before we chart our course for this promising year ahead, I want to personally extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation for your important work in the childhood cancer arena. No doubt, your dedication as an individual has contributed to the enhancement of the community we serve.

During this festive season, I am also reminded by Catherine Ryan Hyde’s quote: “If you cannot pay it back, pay it forward”.

When my son, Keeve was treated for ALL, many members from our community stepped forward to help us. Parents who were in a similar journey shared their invaluable experience of taking care of a child with cancer. Doctors and nurses took great care to ensure my son received the treatment he needed to get better. Friends and relatives constantly visited us at the hospital, providing the all-important moral support. It was truly the love and support we received from our community that gave us the strength to embrace and overcome all challenges that came our way.

This selfless act of compassion has inspired my initial thoughts to volunteer, regardless of the uncertainty of how I was able to lend a helping hand. As I profusely thanked everyone for their help during those trying times, it has also encouraged me to do the same for others. This is indeed my form of paying it forward. I guess this applies to everyone in our community – we are all paying it forward for the act of compassion that was shown to us.

2023 has been a pivotal year for CCI. The board, under the leadership of Joao Braganca, has worked tirelessly to reshape and enhance the roles of CCI. This ensures we stay relevant and ahead in providing greater support to our community. A new strategic plan was also developed to guide CCI into a better, brighter future. While we strengthened our partnerships with WHO, SIOP, La Roche Posay and St Jude, among many others, we also forged new alliances with like-minded organisations like Sanofi's - Foundation S and COURSERA.

The formation of these unions was clear and purposeful – to deliver impactful values to our members, with an aim to build the capacity of our communities, share best practices and advocate for childhood cancer by strengthening the voices of parents, adolescents and survivors.

Numerous impactful initiatives currently in the planning stages are geared towards ensuring the fulfilment of our mission. Key projects include Home Away from Home, Coursera Learning Programmes, Enlace Knowledge Platform, Global Childhood Cancer Project Funding Platform and many more.

On the advocacy front, our signature awareness campaigns such as International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD), Survivors’ Week, Gold September were effectively carried out, leaving a significant impact. We also developed a new initiative known as Candle Lighting Day to raise greater awareness about the children who left us because of cancer, and show our solidarity for bereaved families globally.

The 2023 year culminated with our 29th CCI Annual International Conference and Annual General Meeting that were held in Ottawa, Canada. Global members of CCI convened to present important abstracts and share global best practices. We also witnessed many heart-warming reconnections and new formation of kinships amongst the participants. CCI also presented our future direction and strategic plans. Indeed, many participants commended on the immense values they received from attending the Annual Conference. A big congratulations to the Organising Team and a job well-done!

As we enter the horizon of 2024, CCI’s focus remains steadfast on building a strong and sustainable organisation to bring more impactful values to our members. I am pleased to share with you members of the Board and Management.

CCI Board of Trustees
President - Rodney Wong, parent (Malaysia)
Vice President - Alejandra Mendez, parent (Chile)

Members
Joao Braganca, parent (Portugal)
Bindu N Nair (India)
Daniel McKenzie (Zimbabwe)
Kate Johnson, parent (Australia)
Georgia Kokkinou, parent (Greece)

Advisor
Paul Preston (England)

Management
Carl Queiros, Executive Director (South Africa)

Our direction is clear – we will continue to grow our membership, introduce new initiatives to support our members, work closely with key partners and raise awareness of childhood cancer.

With these ambitions in sight, I look forward to partnering with each and everyone of you, on another journey of shared success. Together, let’s work towards realising the WHO’s Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC), with a shared goal to increase the childhood cancer survival rate from 40% to 60%, thereby saving one million lives of children with cancer.

“It takes each of us to make a difference for all of us”  Jackie Macheson.

Here’s to another year of brimming with care, compassion and hope. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy and fulfilling year ahead!

Sincerely,

Rodney Wong

President I Childhood Cancer International