A one-time drinker at sea, but no longer three sheets to the wind

Rotary Magazine by Neil Steinberg Illustrations by Andrea Ucini

You don’t have to go looking for booze, it will find you wherever you are, even at the end of the world. Or make that, “The End of the World,” part of the official slogan of Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city on Earth.

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society had invited me to travel aboard its polar, ice-class cruise ship for two weeks as it traveled the coast of Chile, getting up close and personal with glaciers. Of course I’d been reluctant: Glaciers? Big walls of ice? Lectures by scientists? For two weeks? Won’t that get old? 

But the trip was free, and I figured: Go, see what it’s about. 

So a flight to South America, a few days in Buenos Aires. Then a 1,900-mile hop south to the tip of the continent, where the RCGS Resolute was moored, waiting.

I had just been shown to my stateroom and was exploring, pulling open drawers and peering behind cabinet doors. Behind one was a well-stocked minibar: rocks glasses, little bottles of Jack Daniels lined up, soldiers ready for duty. 

“Oh,” I thought, quickly closing the door. “I’ll have to ask the purser to take that out.” 

I’m a recovering alcoholic. And yes, I had considered, before agreeing to the trip, the risks of taking a cruise for a fortnight. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson’s pithy description — “Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned” — being on a cruise is like being locked in a bar with the chance of relapse. But I decided to risk it. “I’ll not drink there the same way I don’t drink here,” I assured my wife.

The pandemic did not just slow down the delivery of essential health services to vulnerable populations. In many cases, it completely cut it off. On 23-24 June, health days were organized at 60 sites in Nigeria. At two sites at Ikeja, Dr. Omolola Salako, a clinical oncologist, and her team witnessed hundreds of women queueing up to get their cervical cancer screening and tests done. Salako is founder of three organizations – Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre, Oncopadi Technologies and Pearl Oncology Clinic, and has spent over 16 years providing quality care and education to cancer patients in Nigeria. She recently shared her experience with Sneha Saloni, a communications specialist with the Rotary Action Group for Family Health & AIDS prevention.

“Being at the Rotary Family Health Days was a wonderful experience. I have always known about Rotary. In 2020, soon after the lockdown, we worked together on a prostate cancer screening program. This year, we partnered with Rotary at the two sites in Ikeja and set up our mobile screening units.

When you look at the cancer statistics, most of the cancer types affect predominantly women. Each time a woman visits me accompanied with her little kid, for cancer treatment, it shakes me up. Most of the time, these women do not have strong family support. There is so much we can do to help them.

Finding Purpose in Pain

I lost my sister to cancer 19 years ago, and this is where it all started from for me. I found a purpose in my pain. When I do my work, I remember the incredibly difficult time my family had to go through. So, I am trying to do my best to help reduce the pain of others.

Each time I treat someone, I feel so happy seeing them win the cancer battle. To know and let them know that they are not alone in this and when my patients come back just for a follow up after being treated, I just feel so humbled. There is a lot of fulfilment in this.

While there is a visible lack of awareness, in many cases the treatment process is further delayed by the time it takes for cases to be detected and arrangements made to cover the treatment costs. Flying out to a different country is not an option that many can afford. The treatment journey is also not easy.