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THE CENTENARY CARE TRUST
IMPACT REPORT.
Foreword.
I’m delighted to present this impact report
providing a Comprehensive insight into why the
Trust is needed, what we do, how we work and
our impact.
It includes independent research into why our
projects helps us achieve our desired outcomes,
plus evidence from our community that
continues telling us that what we do works.
Some conclusions have been new and
encouraging to me too.
Only after treatment ends can a person start
rebuilding their life following the devastation of
cancer or mental illness. We provide the bridge
between detection, treatment (as this be the
hardest time a family would go through) and a
recovery to the community to seize the future it
may never imagined possible.
I’ve been personally involved with the
Trust since it started in 2016, seeing us
Grow.
When the Trust started we were not experts on
people’s charities, mental health or cancer; we
stumbled across a successful formula and have
grown to a point where we have a real
knowledge of the ailing people we work with
and are confident we make a life-changing
difference to them embracing their futures with
optimism.
tghanyire
Takunda George Hanyire
(Centenary Care Trust Chief
Executive Officer)
Who are we?
The Centenary Care Trust is an
organization that supports and enables
young people to create programmes
and influence policies in the areas of
health and nutrition as in cancer and
mental challenges programmes.
The organization promotes, protects
and advances the mentally and cancer
affected human health rights by
building and strengthening youth led
initiatives. Founded in 2014 and
registered in 2016, C.C.T will work
directly with over 5,000 young people
to set up over 200 projects within the
next 3 years in Muzarabani District to
benefit the mentally challenged and
cancer affected. Reaching out to over
2000, cancer affected, old and
neglected mentally disadvantaged
members of the community.
Our Vision is of a community that realizes
and support the mentally disturbed,
cancer affected members of the
community and helping them achieve
better lives as well as eradicating absolute
poverty.
Our Mission is to promote, protect,
advance and provide access to support
and care to the mentally disturbed, cancer
affected members of the community by
building and strengthening Trust led
initiatives and projects.
Our Goal is to support and enable
mentally disturbed, cancer affected
members of the community to create
programmes and influence policies in the
areas of health and nutrition in their daily
lives.
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Who we work with?
The Local Governance, the Ministry of
Healthy and Child Care, the
Community Elders, Traditional Healers
and Prophets, the Local Youths, Other
Relatively Organizations. Voluntary
graduates and teachers.
We have worked with the community
largely at ward level. The Ministry Of
Health And Child Cares village health
workers have worked with us also in
providing information about potential
cancer infections and mental disorders
so our team would visit, assess and
advises. People tend to visit traditional
healers and faith prophets for help
when confronted with such types of
challenges hence we work with them
to get links to such people in
community and also they would advise
the ailing people to seek medical
attention to cases they can’t handle.
On mental health challenges, the
community has so many retarded,
neglected and drug/substances abuse
which leads to such challenges. Now
we work with community elders to
help the community solve these
problems by taking care of these
people and restricting these abuses in
society.
We identify relatives to vagrants who
are mentally challenged and discuss
on how we can help their relatives’
access medication and rehabilitation
and return to sanity and have their
lives back.
Where the people we work with
come from?
We work with people from the whole
of Muzarabani in its 29 wards. The
global statistics on cancer infections
reflects that a number of new cases is
expected to rise by about 70% over
the next 2 decades. Now the
population in Muzarabani is among
that global statistics but are not even
aware of their looming plight and need
to be informed since in most cases
those affected are the long-term
survivors yet their cancer can have
lifelong consequences.
Why we need to help?
Both the affected people endure many
physical, psychological and social
changes and challenges during these
hard moments developing
independence, social networks and
peer relationships, establishing their
position in society and contributing to
their communities. All this is
threatened when cancer is diagnosed.
Perhaps the most obvious impact of
treatment is on body image, often
affecting self-esteem and confidence,
impacting on relationships and leading
to feelings of isolation, fear and
anxiety.
Treatment can mean lost education
time, which may negatively impact on
goals and ambitions. Some will have
permanent disability too.
Providing opportunities for people to
rebuild their lives after cancer or
rehabilitation gives them the greatest
chance to go on and achieve their
goals and ambitions.
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“The first step is rebuilding confidence
and re-establishing self-esteem.
Mixing with others who have had
similar experiences is the key. They
start re-establishing peer relationships
and provide mutual support. Realizing
they can participate in activities is
often necessary in their recovery.
Why are we needed?
The trust is needed in this society to
create
Transformation
Community development
Health promotions
Education
Dialogues and public meetings
Prayer gatherings
Shelter development
programmes.
In community research and dialogues
we figured out that, 90% of the affected
are isolated, 84% are always worried
about the impact of these mishaps on
education, and about 60% are worried
about what these misfortunes will do to
the employment and empowerment
sector. Now these may cause panic in
many families and youths so by
introducing of our projects, we will be
helping all those affected to interact,
share and learn how best they can stay
survivors. These days Survival rates
are increasing. But while the wide-
ranging medical implications of long-
term illness are typically known with
relevant support and advice available,
there remains a chasm between
treatment and young people re-
discovering a societal normality. This
is the gap the Trust fills.
When a person is diagnosed with
cancer everything else gets sidelined.
‘Will they live?’ is the only concern,
getting the best medical care
leapfrogs education, friends, work,
relationships, independence, all else,
as the major priority.
Life goes on hold at a time when
people are forming their place in the
world. Studies show young adults are
particularly vulnerable because
treatment comes at a time of rapid
social and emotional development.
It shows that people feel the cost of
cancer is a price paid in terms of social
and emotional wellbeing, educational
progress and aspirations and
expectations, free minds.
Evidence also suggests early illness
can lead to fewer years’ education,
joblessness and lower pay in later life
(Esposito, 2011) while research found
survivors of cancer and mental
disorders are less likely to have
college degrees, work full-time, be
married or live independently and
were at higher risk of depression /
anxiety. People on treatment and
rehab are more likely to fall behind in
education, need special educational
support and close monitoring for
educational difficulties to maximize
academic success (Barrera et al, 2005).
Mental challenged people and cancer
survivors have lower educational
attainment than the general population
(financial gazette Zimbabwe 16 Aug.
2013), and chronic fatigue and
attention / concentration issues can
keep impacting on learning.
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A cancer or mental disorder diagnosis
has negative educational and
vocational impacts longer term,
including difficulties mapping out
future career pathways (Stern, 1991).
Some research shows increasing a
young person’s job /career prospects
contributes to positive mental health,
and the degree of confidence a person
has in their ability to work will
increase the likelihood of being
employed.
3/4 missed a lot of time in
education.
2/3 had fallen behind in studies.
2/3 less able to study well.
Education Employment Emotional
wellbeing in Muzarabani.
90% said cancer has made them
rethink what they want to do
with their life.
95% said lack of confidence was
a barrier to finding a job.
41% were concerned about how
to disclose their cancer in a job
application.
83% missed their friends.
46% had not been able to meet
someone going through the
same thing as them.
92% unable to access a
counsellor or psychologist, or
needed more support.
Confidence and social and emotional
wellbeing are increasingly recognized
as playing a key role in life outcomes,
while staying in education,
employment and training is hugely
important for emotional wellbeing as it
can help people picture a life after
cancer and increase self-esteem.
People on treatment are at greater risk
of being excluded from social
networks. Now this trust and its
projects will cover this gap and help
create a society that accommodates
everyone affected.
Our approach.
The first thing we should do to a
person diagnosed with cancer, or
mental disorder in treatment and to a
survivor is to grow confidence in them.
This supportive and hands-on trust
projects, environment, friendships are
rooted, physically and mental
boundaries are pushed, independence
is rediscovered, fears are overcome,
new skills are learned, deeply
personal experiences and worries are
shared, often for the first time.
These self-sufficiency projects are the
start of a lifelong relationship a person
can choose with the Trust because we
understand rebuilding robust
optimism, self-esteem and self-belief
in the aftermath of cancer cannot be
achieved in a week.
This is why our programme, needs
presenting Opportunities,
employment and empowerment, are
crucial as we appreciate a person
being able to picture a future and
having the increasing confidence to
live that future, getting involved with
education, dealing with the challenges
of employment, facing the realities of
socialization and relationships and just
living a full, happy life, can be an
ongoing process.
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Our approach to positive thinking can
be achieved through the following
stages.
Environment
This is the mother source of all the
project. By making this habitable to a
person affected will help a long way in
achieving the desired goal.
Sports, Arts and Education
These helps people get new skills,
acquire direction and guidance to
living life after such illnesses. It also
helps portray how they feel through
song and films.
Socializing.
The trust will provide a better platform
for the affected to socialize and make
differences, sharing ideas and skills.
Our trust provides projects which will
engage these people directly so they
can’t feel neglected or side lined.
Personal Growth.
Now, at this stage, we would have
achieved for a person to reach a stage
of personal growth. A person will
have:
• Self-achievement
• Overcoming fears
• Change in self-perception
• Feeling important
• Not feeling judged
• Decreased isolation
• Change in perspective on illness and
life
• Increased positivity
We continue to learn from the
community and people affected what
activities have the best outcomes and
carefully plan our programme to
promote personal challenge, skill,
development, socialization, new
friendships and fun.
Doing this in an environment where
the people know they are understood,
where they don’t feel judged, do not
have to be anxious about what they
look like or what they think they can’t
do, adds to the evidence that such
therapeutic recreation is beneficial to
psychosocial wellbeing and improved
coping skills to seize their futures.
The trust will help both the affected by
achieving many goals including:
Happiness
People will have a positive change in
perspective on their illness and life
with Families and friends also
observing enhanced personal feelings
in their battle with cancer.
Socialization
A shared understanding, having
something in common to relate to,
most for feeling at ease around others,
allowing discussions about
medications /treatments plus feeling
more open, comfortable and not
secretive about health issues. Adults
appear to benefit most from the social
aspect. Communication increases with
friends and their social skills at home.
Confidence
Community believes there is an
enhancement in self-confidence, with
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people saying this had come through a
new awareness of their abilities and a
change in self-perception with feelings
of self-assurance and self-belief.
People could challenge themselves
and gain feelings of self-
accomplishment.
Sense of Oneness/Belonging.
These allow ongoing friendships to
develop as well as further
opportunities to be around others in a
similar situation. We believe people
gains motivation as they will have
something to look forward to when
they get a Trust visit and self-
sufficiency projects. The social aspect
– meeting up with old friends and new
people and being around people who
understand – is the most common
reason for returning.
Learning
The projects have valuable
educational benefits, out-of-the
ordinary learning experiences, and
allows participants to practice new
skills, giving them a motivation to want
to gain further experience and learn
more on other projects.
Independence
People will have a sense of normality
and not feel different.
We have our 3 point priority plans
which stamps our required help in
society, these are:
Regaining confidence – overcoming
the struggle to maintain a sense of
personal worth and regaining control
over their lives to feel happy and
secure in themselves. At this point a
person will be going through
diagnosis, and treatment the hardest
part of life a survivor and family would
go through. Engaging them in income
generating projects will help the
affected financially hence lessening
the burden the illness will bring.
Giving them these projects will help
them think positively and have peace
of minds hence developing confidence
that they have a course to live and
their recovery won’t be in vain.
2. Improved ability to plan for a
future – moving from just being happy
to survive, through dealing with
survivor’s guilt and understandable
overreliance on family/careers, to
having the confidence to plan the next
chapter in life.
3. Re-engaging with
education/employment – supporting
the 95% and 41% worried about the
impact of cancer on their education
and employment prospects (see p4)
We will have testimonies on
employment, education, the future,
survival guilt and self-sufficiency
projects on our website
www.cct.org.zw testimonial page.
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Conclusion
I feel so honored in working with this
team to give people their lives back in
some ways. I also feel great in moving
forward the government aims to
providing empowerment to
individuals, families and groups in
society. Out trust is among those who
are involved in community
development hence our active
participation is noticed here.
If you are reading this report you
either already support our work or are
considering supporting us so thank
you. Hopefully you now have a deeper
understanding of the specific ways our
work is able to make a difference, and
help young people to look positively at
their future prospects after cancer.
Thank you.
Tghanyire
Takunda George Hanyire.
Centenary Care Trust C.E.O