467 | Birding against cancer

WELFARE

What is cancer?

Cells are the very small units that make up the human body, actually all living things. These billions of cells in each person's body are produced by an existing cell copying itself and splitting to produce two new cells.

Cancer happens when cells that are not normal grow and continue multiplying even when the body does not need them. This is called uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. Normal body cells grow and divide and know when to stop growing and over time they also die. Whereas cancer cells just continue to grow and divide out of control and don't die when they are supposed to. These uncontrolled growing cancer cells clump together resulting in tumors. These growths are considered either benign or malignant. Benign tumors are rarely life threatening, do not spread to other parts of the body and they can often be removed. Malignant tumors, however, destroy the normal cells around the tumor, damage the body's healthy tissues and organs and can make someone very sick.

Sometimes cancer cells break away from the original tumor and travel to other body areas where they can form new tumors. This is called metastasis.

Risk factors:

- Being overweight can lead to cancer later in life.

- Regular exercise helps prevent cancer 

- Stop smoking 

- Limit alcohol consumption 

- Eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day

Cancer Free Future (CFF) initiative by BirdsConTour

BirdsConTour takes action in supporting children with cancer by having founded the Cancer Free Future (CFF) initiative. CFF renders a welfare service to children with cancer by BirdsConTour making a donation to people who take care of children with cancer for each booked BirdsConTour tour.

Art classes to children with cancer.

Photo by R. Gillmann

Hereby a first money donation was handed over to Mrs. Regine Gillmann on the 24th of February with the start of the Namibia Compact Birding Tour.

Some children never had the opportunity to hold a drawing pen in their hands.

Photo by R. Gillmann

Mrs. Gillmann offers art classes on a voluntary basis to children with cancer in Windhoek once a week  and can use this donation to buy much needed art products. Read more under www.arttherapynamibia.blogspot.com