In the first initiative of its kind in the Arab world, a program that aims at helping women cope with cancer with special emphasis on appearance will be shortly launched in the UAE.
‘Be Beautiful’ is the name of a new support program that helps women with cancer to remain good looking throughout the various treatment stages so that they can be more confident in combating the illness.
The program includes monthly workshops, each of which lasts for two hours. The first of these workshops is scheduled to start on Wednesday Sept. 19 at the Dubai Ladies Club.
The workshop will be given by a group of makeup artists who will advise attendees about the best types of cosmetics and ways to use them during the time of treatment.
The workshop will also include instructions about ways to hide the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The workshops are organized in cooperation with several hospitals such as Tawam Hospital, Dubai Hospital, and the American Hospital in addition to top brands in the field of beauty care like Loreal Middle East, La Prairie, Vaseline, and Olay as well as other companies that expressed interest in taking part in the initiative.
According to Hanadi El-Imam, who initiated the program, women are shocked when they learn of their illness then this shock is followed by constant fear of how cancer treatment would show on them.
“They start worrying about hair loss, paleness, and skin dryness and this has a negative impact of women’s morale and their ability to fight,” she said.
Be Beautiful, Imam explained, offers the necessary procedures that make women remain pretty while they are receiving treatment.
“Those procedures are already followed in more than 20 countries around the world but in none of the Arab countries.”
Imam added that as part of the program’s plan to encourage women to remain beautiful, each of the attendees will be given a set of cosmetic products at the end of each workshop.
Imam expressed her appreciation of the efforts of all volunteers in the project and media outlets that offered the necessary coverage to promote the initiative.
“I am also very grateful to the Dubai Ladies Club and all the participating hospitals and beauty houses.”
Cancer is still much feared in the Arab world and in some areas euphemisms are used to refer to it. Consequently, initiatives that aim at encouraging patients to face their predicament are much needed to break this psychological barrier and help in fighting the illness.
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