Ford Presents "The Warriors in Pink Podcast" - Models Of Courage Who Testify in Support Of The Breast Cancer Awareness Month Across The Middle East And Africa

Each month of October marks the start of the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. In order to encourage women and raise their awareness on the importance of early detection and of psychological support from the family in the healing process, Ford, each year, tells the story of the remarkable journeys of persons, who, thanks to their courage and determination, have succeeded in overcoming this disease.

For its 2020 edition, Ford has created "The Warriors in Pink Podcast", a platform through which Ford forges a new bond between all persons suffering from breast cancer and four warriors who have spoken out about the illness and the challenges they had to face when they received their diagnosis. They share with us each stage of their ordeal, their journey, their feelings and their struggle up until their victory, with great courage and sincerity.

The "Ford Warriors in Pink" Campaign has flourished over the years into a longstanding program across the Direct Markets of Ford and we are committed to provide whatever support is needed to raise public awareness about breast cancer.

"Early detection is very important, and we hope to further raise awareness across the region by developing this program year after year." said Rasha Ghanem, Director of Communications of Direct Markets, Ford Motor Company. "These models of courage inspire and remind us that speaking out about breast cancer and sharing one's experience can help other patients, and that speaking out is in itself a militant act for life".

Considered as an exclusively female cancer, breast cancer can also occur in men. But because of its rarity and the generally painless nature of the mammary tumor, men do not think that a lump, redness or an anomaly in skin texture could be signs of breast cancer. And yet, our Model of Courage, Maruf Azimov, is living proof of this. He was cured because it was detected in time and treated. Since then, Maruf has been fighting to make people understand that a delay in diagnosis puts patients at risk because they will have to deal with cancers that are often more advanced and, therefore, involve heavier treatments.

Breast cancer survivors from various regions and nationalities have risen to the challenge - and while each story is unique, they are all proof that cancer must not hold you back or prevent you from fully living your lives.

In this first episode we talk to… Yasmine Ghaith, an Actress, motivational speaker, breast cancer survivor and CEO at YG Pieces. Yasmine Ghaith from Egypt, explains that her diagnosis in September 2016 was a major turning point in her life, not only from a health perspective, but from a professional one as well. A teacher at the time, Yasmine switched her focus to acting and motivational speaking, spreading awareness about breast cancer. In 2019, she launched her jewelry line, YG Pieces - 18k handcrafted gold pieces inspired by her journey and scars.

In episode 2, Maruf ‘Max’ Azimov from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), tells us about breast cancer experienced by a male. Max was diagnosed with the disease when he was just 24. So, when the doctors at a local hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where his family lives – broke the news that he had cancer, his world came tumbling down. Max shares with us his story about diagnosis, treatment, and community support. Max has been cancer free for four years and his leitmotiv is, “Women do your checks regularly and men, you too. Don’t ignore symptoms as breast cancer can happen to
anyone”.

Episode 3 features Latifa Cherif & Samia Akariou from Morocco. Latifa Cherif, Founder and President of the Association "Les Amis du Ruban Rose", is also an entrepreneur, mother, social activist and breast cancer survivor. She is joined by Samia Akariou an actress, director and an active member of the Association. The pair talk about the importance of a stable support system and how important it is for patients to have this support system during their treatment and recovery.

Today, both Latifa and Samia are campaigning to make women understand that psychological support is very important during treatment. It is partly responsible for 70% of the healing. You must break the taboo and have the courage to say: "Yes, I have breast cancer! So what?".

In Episode 4, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu from Nigeria joins us to talk about her experience and the reasons that guided her to become the breast cancer awareness advocate that she is today. Betty is a philanthropist and the First Lady of Ondo State in Nigeria.

In 1997, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following her successful treatment, she started the non-profit organization, Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), to raise awareness of the disease. She has won awards for her work and commitment in the fight against breast cancer in Nigeria.

Our host for this season is Nesma El Shazly, a mother and a wife. She is the Founder and CEO of Stardust (PR consultancy/agency), advisor at the
Egyptian state Ministry of Information, songwriter and Managing Partner at KharmaWorks.

The episodes of "The Warriors in Pink Podcast" will be available every Thursday in October in free streaming on the following links:

https://open.spotify.com/show/4P428lNzS5kCpur1HCn5gm