Today, her name is synonymous with all things cancer. Her face is instantly recognizable, having been at the forefront of Fiji Cancer Society fundraisers and awareness events.
But there was a time when Belinda Chan struggled to understand the terms used in relation to the dreaded disease.
Since taking on the role of CEO since 2017, she has somehow managed to juggle managing the Fiji Cancer Society while taking care of her family, even though it was quite challenging at times.
Ms Chan has been with the FCS since July 2015 and being at the forefront of the organisation for many years was not all glitz and glamour, it has been a tough slog.
She said coming from a corporate background, she struggled to find her footing as the CEO of the FCS.
But with her years of experience and a fierce determination to get the job done, Ms Chan said she was able to break down many barriers and carve a career doing what she loves – serving her community.
“When I came in (FCS), there was no staff, so I was the only staff and I had no idea what I was doing,” she recalled.
“The new board that was also elected also didn’t know what they were doing, and it was a learning process for everyone as there were lots to be done.”
The many challenges weighed heavily on Ms Chan’s mind – the biggest was whether she would be able take on the role as she had little to no experience with cancer.
“At that time the office was at the rehab centre in Tamavua and the challenge back then was not understanding what I was going to do and I had to learn as I went along.
“But my curiosity got the better of me and I asked a lot of questions when I wasn’t sure about anything.
“I sat in a room where there was a whole lot of knowledge, and I had no idea what they were talking about – it was high level because of the terms and I couldn’t keep up, even with Google at the time.”
She said there were many expectations from organisations and people on what the FCS would do in terms of patient care and support in Fiji.
“There was a whole expectation on what we could do. “Everyone was eager to know what we could bring to the table and for me I wasn’t sure as well because I hadn’t tried it.
“I had to be guided by what the clinicians were saying because this was what they saw on a day to day basis, these were the challenges they faced.
“I found as the days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months which turned into years that I was starting to get a grip and understand about what was happening as I could relate from a patient perspective but also what the clinicians were going through in terms of their challenges as well as the families.
“Every time we would introduce a service, it was because the need was identified — so medication we had to buy because the patient needed it, chemotherapy drugs not available and how will it affect the patients.”
She said with no medical background, she often struggled when it came to speaking on topics concerning cancer at events.
“When the Bushells Fiji’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser came about, I had no idea what was going to happen.
“All I knew was we had to raise funds from this morning tea but how do we go about it.
“So getting patients to come and talk about their experiences was what we agreed upon and that was also the first public speaking that I did.
“I stood in front of people while I talked about something I didn’t feel confident about and had to ‘wing it’ and personally it didn’t touch my heart.
“But as years went by, I got a little more confident with speaking in public and talking about what I do that it made it easier — it’s always the first time that’s hard.”
Many successful women are supported by the strength of like-minded people around them who encourage them to reach their full potential. Ms Chan says her work over the years would not have been possible without the support of her family and the medical community.
“Over the years I have seen for myself, personally, how I’ve grown in this space.
“I guess all this was due from the support from my family and those working around me.
“I haven’t attended any formal leadership training or workshops to improve my leadership skills — everything has been on a learn-on-the-job basis and coming from a corporate background it is completely different.
“For outreach programs, I had no idea what we had to talk about and it was the beautiful nurses at CWM oncology unit that have been very helpful especially Sister Karolina.
“She was able to provide me the support on why we should be screening, why we should be taking it out to the communities so there’s been a lot of challenges along the way, along with heartbreaks, although I’m still growing in the cancer space, there is still a lot more that needs to be done.
“I was fortunate that the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) Oncology nurses back then were helpful and my friend from CWM Chris and Dr Josese who helped me.”
Ms Chan said gaining recognition from international organisations and the culmination of FCS’s community palliative care program saw the graduation of 66 community health workers and 14 public health workers in 2022.
She said as the society continued to grow over the years, so did the challenging workload.
“Over the years I have built relations with some of these patients and their families and when they pass on, it can be very emotional.
“And that is a reality check for me, so I tell myself that there is still more that needs to be done, people whose voices need to be heard, people who need to access the health care system and are in pain.
“Each time I hit a roadblock, I think of why I started and what drives me is my passion, commitment to ensuring the cancer patients’ needs are addressed regardless of their socio-economic state.”
Ms Chan urged the public to have more conversations about cancer and its preventions while also making the change to healthier lifestyles.
“Everyone here in Fiji has known friends, coworkers, and family members who have gone through a cancer journey. “We have to start having conversations about cancer and how it has impacted on us.
“We’ve seen how the hospitals like CWM, Labasa, Lautoka or Nadi have challenges — the clinicians are challenged as well.
“We have a health system that can barely withstand what it has and we can’t over burden it so we need to look after our health because that would minimise hospital bills and medication.
“We need to change our lifestyle, have foods that resemble that of a rainbow, we need to be a little more active.
“Tobacco and alcohol are contributing factors to not only cancer, but you have general non-communicable diseases (NCD), diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases.
“We don’t expect people to change overnight but I encourage people to do small changes, just chip away at that block to improve your health.”
