New notecards aim to raise funds to combat breast cancer (06/01/03)

New notecards aim to raise funds to combat breast cancer

KYIV - In an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of breast cancer and the need for early diagnosis, a group of Ukrainian women's organizations united their efforts last year in a campaign called "Because Life is Beautiful."

Breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of women in the world, and Ukraine is one of the countries with the highest breast cancer incidence rates in Europe, with 15,000 new cases diagnosed annually. The incidence rate has doubled over the last 10 years.

The fund-raising campaign, which was launched in the summer of 2002, began with the sale of notecards (packets of eight) by Ukrainian women artists to raise money to produce public education materials on how to do breast self-examinations and to purchase medical equipment for the detection of breast cancer.

Another aspect of the campaign includes a traveling fashion show, featuring women designers from Ukraine: Anna Babenko, Victoria Gres and Oksana Karavanska, who will present their their fall/winter 2004 collection in Chicago (May 30); Detroit (May 31); Toronto (June 1); Washington (June 5) and New York (June 7).

Seven prominent Ukrainian women artists, including Olena Pryduvalova, Lesia Dovzhenko, Nina Denysova, Tetiana Kolechko, Iryna Yeremeyeva, Iryna Kudina and Vera Kuleba-Barynova donated their works to create the notecards. The eighth artist in the group is a 10-year-old girl and aspiring artist, Yaroslava Kutsay, who learned about the initiative and wanted to help with this public awareness campaign and donated her latest work, titled "Ukrainian Girl."

The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on this campaign include the Ukrainian Women's Fund, Center for Ukrainian Reform Education, Women's Health and Family Planning Charitable Foundation, Ukrainian Section of IAAC (International Association of Art Critics), the National Council of Women of Ukraine and Winrock International, a USAID contractor in Ukraine that works on women's issues.

Close to 1,000 sets of notecards have already been sold and have done much to attract public attention and to focus on the health concerns of Ukrainian women. Interestingly, a majority of the notecards have been acquired by concerned American women who are not of Ukrainian ancestry.

The packaged cards come with a message that they are part of the educational campaign "Because Life is Beautiful." The packaging explains that by purchasing them, buyers are helping the Ukrainian Women's Fund acquire medical equipment for the early detection of breast cancer and its successful treatment in Ukraine.

The notecards, which come in attractive packages of 8, may be obtained in the United States and Canada by sending a donation of $10 to Public Education International, 6819 N. Algonquin Ave., Chicago, IL 60646. PEI is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization with tax-exempt status.

The notecards will be available for purchase at the venues in the five cities where the breast cancer awareness campaign has scheduled its traveling fashion show.

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