Olga Oviol is a 67-year-old woman who runs the United Falcón Foundation against Breast Cancer (Fucam), which she created in 2005 after she recovered from breast cancer that was detected in 2002.
Ms. Oviol remembers that at that time the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (Ivss) used to supply for free a large part of the high-cost medicines for cancer treatment. However, there were many more needs, especially for women who came from farms and rural areas of Falcón State.
“That awoke in me a will to fight, I felt that God had given me another opportunity to help and seek help for other people, and so it was. When I recovered, I started to work and the foundation was created,” she recalled.
While in Caracas, she saw an advertisement of the NGO “Senos Ayuda” on a television program that was looking for volunteers in the regions and that is how she took the first step to create this foundation.
The work began with a group of women who were breast cancer patients or had relatives with this disease. This organization has spread to about 10 of the 25 municipalities that make up Falcón State. The foundation provides psychological and monetary help to carry out specialized exams and mammograms, as well as to buy medicines and vitamins.
They also received support from Avon Venezuela, which sent boxes of makeup and personal hygiene products for women, which were distributed during medical care sessions. They have been working with the Wig Bank for three years, where they receive hair donations from people who want to help, and with the support of Senos Ayuda they make the wigs that are later distributed to women under treatment.
Ms. Oviol points out that she has had the collaboration of great women who make up this foundation. Such is the case of Gregoria Maribel Acosta, who accompanied her from the beginning until two months ago when she died of cancer, but whose work is still alive in the foundation.
The pandemic affected this organization because many women left the country or took multiple jobs to support their families and they had to abandon volunteer work. However, they maintain ongoing operations in the municipalities of Píritu, Miranda, Federación, Carirubana, Falcón and Los Taques, although if a new case arrives from another municipality, it is also taken care of.
She stressed that the activities are aimed at continuing to help the women of Falcón who suffer from this disease, since there are more and more challenges due to the lack of medical supplies and high-cost medicines in hospitals, which makes it essential to activate non-governmental organizations to help.
Olga Oviol also wants the foundation to continue to grow to promote daily self-examination, which helps early detection of the disease and thereby save lives. “Preventive medicine is very important. Thanks to it, I am alive and I was able to detect the disease in time. We always talk in the talks, the importance of checking yourself and knowing your body. This is a big step, if we all do the self-examination.”
The NGO does not keep records of breast cancer patients, but they currently aid 20 recent cases that came to the organization looking for help. “Many are forced to abandon medication because they have no way to buy it and that is what worries us the most. We need the government to stop turning a blind eye to this disease and start giving the care that everyone deserves,” she concluded.