The hospitals in Ghana where Jamila Jennifer Douglas Onyejekwe lives are always in desperate need of funding to go towards cancer units, support workers, nurses, medicines, scanning machinery and equipment. It takes a special kind of woman to raise this money, and Jamila is one of those. Jamila’s husband died two years ago from cancer and spent many months receiving treatment in their local hospital. Jamila is 38 and has two children aged 10 and 8 that have been sadly left without a father due to this tragic illness.

Despite Jamila’s sad experiences, with an enormous amount of willpower, she raised a large sum of money for the hospital after her husband had died. The money that she donated changed the lives of many families and made a real difference to the future of the hospital. She spoke at length on the local radio with great honesty about her husband’s illness and the treatment that he received. Her candid interviews attracted a lot of media attention which she used as a platform to raise as much money as she could for other cancer and health charities in Ghana. She is also frequently featured in the local newspapers as an inspiration for other families that are affected by cancer. Through her interviews she gained widespread support from businesses and other well-wishers.

Jamila Jennifer Douglas Onyejekwe still continues her valuable charity work and not only raises money to help research into the illness but also supports families just like her own. She consults with the charities that she works for to give them fundraising ideas and helps them provide valuable counselling services for those dealing with grief. Cancer is a terrible illness that sadly blights the lives of so many people. It is women like Jamila that really make a difference in their local communities and should be treasured.