Job fair for cancer survivors in Dubai

Main reasons for difficulty for cancer survivors in getting back to work are diminished confidence, physical inability to carry out the same job before their illness.

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Olivia Olarte-Ulherr

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Published: Fri 1 Nov 2013, 1:23 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 9:26 AM

For cancer survivors, their struggle does not end at just beating the disease. Life starts afresh for most of them, bringing with it the battle to kickstart their careers again.

Rania Amer (third from left) with volunteer members of Pure Hearts for Cancer. — Supplied photo

“Cancer does not stop when it is cured and you are well. There are side effects that follow after cancer. Not a lot of people are aware of it, but cancer survivors struggle to get back into the society and to their normal lives again. It is not just about the disease, it is about everything else,” said Rania Amer, founder and board member of non-governmental organisation Pure Hearts for Cancer.

Citing statistics from the US, Amer said 13 per cent cancer survivors struggle to get back to work.

“Work is considered to be the third most important aspect of quality of life in comparison to being the sixth for a person who is free of cancer,” she pointed out.

‘Do not underestimate cancer survivors’ Mickey Juneja, 60, from India was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (cancer of the bone marrow) late 1999. Prior to getting sick, he had his own business of exporting garments in Dubai. In January 2000, his kidney failed due to the cancer and had to go for dialysis every other day. Between dialysis and chemotherapy, he had no time or energy left for his business and had to shut it down. “I had to stop working because in between intensive therapies, I can’t even get out of bed,” he said. Without regular income, he relied on his savings and family’s support to get by. He also worked part-time as a consultant in trade financing and garment shipment. He had to take a health insurance policy from India, as he was refused insurance here. During a two-year remission, he was well enough to get a kidney transplant in 2004, but had a relapse nine months later. Mickey today works with a recruitment agency as a senior manager, where he gets paid only when he brings client/talent into the agency. He, however, went into relapse again in August 2012 and is now looking to get a “stable job” that pays regularly. “Sometimes it is costly,” he said, referring to his need for immunosuppressant as his regular maintenance for the transplant, the chemotherapy cost and the hospital day-care charges. Mickey will be among the candidates hoping to find work at the job fair on Thursday. With his past employment history in large corporations, he hopes to get a senior position in administration, support services, facilities, supply-chain, procurement or contracts management. “Do not underestimate cancer survivors; put them into the (mainstream) rather than keeping them isolated. They are not abnormal but (sometimes) the world treats us as abnormal,” Mickey said. olivia@khaleejtimes.com

“In the UAE, we find that post treatment, they (cancer survivors) have difficulty getting back to work,” said Amer, noting that living here with cancer is difficult.

“I have a case, where a cancer patient was let go after he told his employer about his condition. After he got cancer, he lost his job, his insurance and he has problems with his visa. There is a (considerable) struggle here and we have to do research and (perhaps) change the labour law to protect employees,” she said. According to Amer, the main reasons for the difficulty in getting back to work are a cancer survivors’ diminished confidence, especially if he/she has been out of work for a long time; physical inability to carry out the same job before their illness, and the general misconception of them as liability by companies.

“From the cases we have, we found that some of the cancer survivors can’t go back and do the same line of work due to one reason or another. In one case, a 25 year old was diagnosed last year with cancer in his back. He used to work as a safety officer. The surgery and treatment was a success, but the setback was that he cannot carry anything that weighs more than 5kg. With his work, he is required to carry up to 15kg. Now he cannot go back to the same line of work,” she said. In another instance, a 50-year old engineer has to shift to an office job as he cannot manage a construction site anymore after his treatment.

“Because they developed some chronic symptoms such as fatigue or tiredness, some of the cancer survivors can only work part time,” said Amer.

“We have cases where some can work full time. Everyone is different, but what we found is that cancer survivors need assistance, they need help,” she said.

For this reason, and also prompted by a close relative’s similar situation, Amer and three others established Pure Hearts for Cancer in 2011. Pure Hearts for Cancer is an international programme designed to empower cancer survivors to become active members of society by guiding them to find suitable employment opportunities.

Volunteers have partnered with hospitals such as the Tawam Hospital, American Hospital and Dubai Hospital to assist cancer patients in reintegrating back into society by connecting them with companies with high corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda through an annual job fair.

“We took it from this perspective because we realised that companies have little knowledge about cancer survivors and work. They don’t know cancer survivors need support services post treatment. This is one of the areas that is challenging and we are trying to tackle it,” Amer said.

However, finding companies to support their cause is another hurdle.

“This conception of cancer in general and perceiving a cancer survivor as a liability are all challenges that we need to break through in order to make this programme a success,” she added.

Pure Hearts hosted two job fairs last year with a 20 per cent success rate from among the candidates. This year, the job fair will be held on Thursday, 31 October at Sofitel Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. However, she pointed out that this is not a charity event and does not guarantee jobs for the candidates.

“We just provide the opportunity and the platform; we leave the employer to select the right candidate.”

Prior to the job fair, a workshop was held for the participant candidates to orient them about the current job market and help prepare them for the interview.

“Many cancer survivors have been without jobs for over two years and they have lost their confidence. So we try to boost their confidence so that when they have their interviews, they are more prepared,” Amer explained. Pure Hearts has also developed a job placement programme online through its website www.purehearttoday.com where companies can post vacancies and view candidate CVs all year round.

There are now over 70 cancer survivors registered in the NGO’s database. Of these, 80 per cent are in the UAE while 20 per cent are from different parts of the world including the Netherlands, the UK, Sudan, Jordan and Palestine.

“I really believe that any positive change can come about when people come together towards the same goal. We can make life much better for others if we all do our part and contribute,” said Amer.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com