A breast cancer survivor turned knitting into a solidarity project support for women who have done mastectomy not Quenia. The knitted implants it produces are much cheaper than silicone ones and have helped hundreds of survivors who do not have access to breast reconstruction.
In countries where silicone implants are expensive and breast reconstruction surgery is out of reach for the majority of the population, many breast cancer survivors are left without alternatives. In Kenya, a woman found a different solution: hand-knit prosthetics.
Mary Mwangi, also a survivor of the diseasecreated a small business that produces and sells these prostheses, offering a more affordable option for women undergoing mastectomy, the total removal of the breast.
When she was first diagnosed with cancer, Mary Mwangi thought death was near, she told the Associated Press.
“When I received the diagnosis, I was devastated and even refused treatment, because all I thought about was death. I had never seen a survivor of breast cancer or any other type of cancer. The only woman I knew with breast cancer had died in November 2017. I was diagnosed in January 2018.”
During her recovery, she resumed an old hobby, knitting, without imagining that this activity would impact the lives of thousands of women.
The idea came when he bought a silicone prosthesis.
“The implant cost Kenyan Sh22,000. At that time I was already in a support group and saw many survivors with symmetrical breasts. So I started to wonder how many women could afford that amount, considering the treatment is already very expensive and many cannot afford it.”
The 22,000 Kenyan shillings correspond to around 170 dollars, approximately 145 euros, a value higher than the average weekly salary of many urban workers, according to the
Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer among women in Kenya. Every year around 6,000 new cases are identified.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than half of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. The high cost of treatment remains one of the main obstacles.
Oindicated that the price of a treatment session could fall from around 160,000 to 40,000 Kenyan shillings, equivalent to approximately 310 dollars, or around 266 euros per session.
In a country where around 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, these values continue to represent a great financial burden.
A support group through knitting
Today, Mary Mwangi works from a small shared sewing space in Thika, on the outskirts of Nairobi. There she teaches other women how to knit prosthetics, in the group she calls the Warriors Against Cancer of Nova Aurora.
Some of the participants manage to earn money from this activity. For others, knitting functions primarily as a way to cope with the emotional impact of illness and the loss of a breast.
Eglah Wambui, also a breast cancer survivor and member of the groupsays that coexistence between women with similar experiences makes a difference.
“When we knit, we talk to other survivors. We talk about a lot of things. Knitting ends up being a kind of therapy, because we’re not always thinking about cancer.”
Nancy Waithera, secondary school science teacher, met Mwangi before the surgery. The contact helped her prepare for life after her mastectomy.
When he received the diagnosis, the news was devastating. Her husband had died shortly before.
“When I had the biopsy and got the results, I was told I had stage 2 breast cancer. Everything went dark. My world turned upside down. I had just lost my husband. When the doctor tells us we have cancer, what immediately comes to mind is death.”
After the surgery, he anxiously waited for the scar to heal so he could use the mesh prosthesis.
“When they told me I could put it on now, I felt like I had been reborn. It was like a second birth. I felt like Nancy had returned. My ego was restored. My dignity was restored. My friends said they couldn’t even understand which side the surgery was on. You can imagine how I felt.”
Knitted prosthetics cost around 10 dollars, approximately 8.5 euros, around a sixth of the price of silicone prosthetics in the country. They are filled with a fiber similar to that used in pillows, a material that is light and soft to the touch.
The group sells the prosthetics to organizations that then distribute them free of charge to survivors who do not have the financial capacity to purchase them. In the last three years, more than 600 units have been sold.
For Mwangi, cancer is no longer a death sentence and wants to expand the project and train more women in the production of these prostheses, and take hope and dignity to those who face the disease.
