Yvonne Webb

A fund-rais­er for an events man­age­ment school project has spi­ralled in­to a can­cer-aware­ness mis­sion for Shera Gopauls­ingh.

"It start­ed out as a project but it be­came per­son­al af­ter my aunt was di­ag­nosed with can­cer," the Arthur Lok Jack Grad­u­ate School of Busi­ness stu­dent said in an in­ter­view.

Gopauls­ingh, of Quar­ry Vil­lage, Siparia, ex­plained the fi­nal project for the class en­tailed her cre­at­ing an event, ei­ther non-prof­it or for prof­it.

"I de­cid­ed to do a char­i­ta­ble event and, since my aunt was di­ag­nosed, I de­cid­ed to do it for the Trinidad and To­ba­go Can­cer So­ci­ety (TTCS), with the aim of de­vel­op­ing a base in the south, be­cause the south does not re­al­ly have that kind of sup­port for can­cer pa­tients," Gopauls­ingh said.

"When my friend's grand­moth­er was di­ag­nosed, men­tal­ly, she could not han­dle it. She went to the can­cer so­ci­ety and got spe­cial coun­selling.

"Peo­ple in the south who are di­ag­nosed with can­cer don't know which di­rec­tion to turn.

"I wrote to the TTCS telling them about my project to in­crease aware­ness of can­cer by host­ing A Pink Af­fair par­ty/dance, to be held on April 20, at Docs Ranch, Philip­pine. They ap­proved it and I start­ed from there."

How­ev­er, hav­ing no mon­ey to kick-start the project, Gopauls­ingh mulled over a num­ber of fund-rais­ing projects, in­clud­ing a walk for can­cer and car wash.

Like a light bulb, the idea dawned on her, one Sat­ur­day, that peo­ple re­al­ly liked food, "and so I or­gan­ised a BBQ."

What hap­pened next was al­most mirac­u­lous, as Gopauls­ingh went to every chick­en de­pot and suc­ceed­ed in get­ting own­ers to do­nate birds for the cause.

Next, she used Face­book and text mes­sag­ing to ad­ver­tise the BBQ themed, Tak­ing a Bite Out of Can­cer.

"With­in hours, tick­ets were booked even be­fore be­ing print­ed.

"By Sun­day af­ter­noon I had sold 200 tick­ets, even though I did not print any un­til the Tues­day.

"It was amaz­ing, peo­ple heard about it and just re­spond­ed."

With the sup­port of friends and rel­a­tives, a to­tal of 300 box­es were sold, amass­ing a lit­tle over $10,000.

She is hop­ing to in­crease this sum, on Sat­ur­day, at A Pink Af­fair.

Bent on bring­ing aware­ness and sup­port­ing the many friends and fam­i­ly mem­bers who have been di­ag­nosed, Gopauls­ingh is not just talk­ing the talk but walk­ing the walk–dis­trib­ut­ing lit­er­a­ture on can­cer in her vil­lage.

"This project has giv­en me a wider un­der­stand­ing, re­al­ly. A re­al­i­ty check on what it is all about. Peo­ple take a lot for grant­ed, in­clud­ing me, un­til it hits home."

So pas­sion­ate she has be­come about the fight against can­cer, Gopauls­ingh pledged to make the event an­nu­al, as well as en­gage in oth­er can­cer-re­lat­ed ac­tiv­i­ties.

"My aim is to con­tin­ue ed­u­cat­ing the pub­lic to raise aware­ness."

On her agen­da for this year, is a walk for can­cer and a chil­dren's show in No­vem­ber to raise funds for chil­dren with can­cer.

"I am so en­thu­si­as­tic with what team ef­fort can achieve and those who sup­port me are will­ing to work for the cause.

"The Can­cer So­ci­ety has been do­ing a great job in as­sist­ing peo­ple but I be­lieve that we–the pub­lic–can do a lot more to sup­port."