30 volunteers graduate from CCA training program

The six-week breast and cervical cancer health outreach training program of the Commonwealth Cancer Association culminated with a graduation ceremony held at the Fiesta Resort & Spa on Saturday.

Board members, trainers, and supporters joined the 28 of the 30 volunteers present at the ceremony.

The volunteers are Anna Liza Gallego, Benilda Natividad, Christine Marie Sanchez, DB Khadka, Dyenina Ruth Diaz, Ebenida Phillip, Frances Hofschneider, Giselle Butalid, Harris Enriquez, Hedwig Hofschneider, Hilma Castro, Viveka Rose Castro, Jean D’Lonsod, Joselito Lazaro, Katrina Demapan, Lorraine Catienza, Lucy Palacios, Mark Kevin Leomo, Naomi Benjamin, Nadia Benjamin, Nicole Benjamin Sablan, Normita Cabalbag, Rachelle Alturas, Shannon Hofschneider, Sunny Loma, Tapita Tebuteb, Victoria Guerrero, Victoria Syed, Rosita Waldron, and Margarita Torres Aldan.

A native of Nepal, D.B. Khadka said he always wanted to get involved in the community that’s why he decided to sign up for the training program.

“I’m learning something new for my studies and, at the same time, I can reach out to people in the community,” said the nursing student at Northern Marianas College.

As Matuis resident Hilma Castro, who is also a NMC nursing student, said she wanted to help eradicate the fatal disease which has affected her family.

She decided to bring along to the training her 11-year-old daughter, Viveka Rose “Rosie” Castro, who became the group’s youngest volunteer.

“To me, I thought the healthy lifestyle was the best thing to learn because my mom is really trying to teach us about the healthy lifestyle [while] we’re young. I know that when you get older, it’s harder to change how your lifestyle is,” said the younger Castro.

She added that she hopes to do short presentations about what she learned from the training so that other students can learn as well, beginning with Rosie’s school at Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School.

All volunteers had undergone training in various areas, including Basics of Breast & Cervical Cancer; Breast & Cervical Screening Program; Patient Privacy Rights & Sensitivity Training; and Life Beyond Cancer.

Tina Sablan, CCA program manager, said the group of volunteers was divided into five subgroups. Three subgroups will focus on the student population, one on promoting mammograms among women 40 and older, and one group on their mass media campaign.

“We have a real diversity of people that had come out to do outreach with the [CCA] to promote breast and cervical health in the community,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to the great work that we’re going to be doing together.”

For his part, CCA board chair Bud White said they are proud of all the work the volunteers have put into the program.

“We’re excited about taking our message out to the community and getting cancer awareness more widely distributed to all people and we’re interested in prevention, early detection, support of cancer patients, and support of cancer survivors and their families,” he told Saipan Tribune.

According to White, every family in the Commonwealth will be unfortunately touched by cancer, one way or another. “We just want that to be as minimum as possible,” he said.

White said they plan to do another training “probably in another year” and get more people involved. “We want to grow it more and more,” he added.

The training program was funded through an $18,000 competitive grant from the Pacific Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities based at the University of Hawaii.

Pacific CEED aims to develop a comprehensive model program that promotes the elimination of health disparities that are unequally borne by racial and ethnic populations within the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Island populations, namely Guam, American Samoa, CNMI, Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

“Really, the work begins now in trying to help out with getting women screened for breast and cervical cancer and raising the awareness and education. The training was just the beginning,” said Curtis Jamison, program specialist who attended the ceremony.

Jamison added that they will also provide technical assistance to CCA and the volunteer group to ensure sustainability and success of the outreach program.