Report by FOM Arnav Dhanawat
The day (24 March 2019) started bright and sunny with pleasant winds at Infocity, Patia which has been the destination for all the CML and GIST patients of Odisha for the last decade.
Friends of Max has been more of a relief than a non profit organization for the patients, as it teaches all its members that cancer is not the end of life, instead it makes life more challenging and FOM helps to face this challenge more easily. It has always been a feature of our members that we battle with life but with a smile and do not let this challenge affect the joys in life.
The Max Foundation gives hope to all it’s patients that their life doesn’t end with a challenge like cancer. Our India has a large number of rural villages which has patients suffering from CML or GIST and FOM helps all the patients from this rural sector to connect with their doctors, clear their doubts, get financial help while purchasing the medicines to help them cure. There are still many villages which do not have the facilities which a patient of a town or city has, so FOM has been working hard to achieve their aim which consists of helping all the rural sector patients in the best way they can.
The FOM couldn’t have been possible without the iron lady who has devoted her life to the good cause, Mrs. Viji Venkatesh who is very sweetly called Amma in love by all. She has been taking care of the India part of this organization with the help of some very hard working lovely ladies like Mrs. Sudha Samineni who has stood strong with Amma and has supported her throughout.
I wish that Friends of Max grows and prospers. And at the last I would like to end with one of Amma’s favourite songs – the line “Hum honge kamyab, ek din”