Gloria Hinds is the new face at the helm of the Cancer Support Services, a non-governmental organization with a mission to make the lives of cancer victims and their families more comfortable .
The teacher of Spanish at the Frederick Smith Secondary School is focused on her commitment to the organization and her goal to foster its growth and promote service excellence, education, training and diversity.
“As president, I want with the help of my competent executive to focus on the quality of services that Cancer Support Services offers to patients, their families and Ward C12 (at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital),” Hinds told EASY magazine.
The British-born teacher, life coach and professional trainer looked on as her mother devoted over 15 years of her life to work as a nurse on Ward C 12 of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, dedication which continues in her retirement.
“Even now my mum is retired, it is as if she had never retired. I remember that when she was actually working on the ward, as long as she was not on duty and someone had passed away, she was at the funeral, she was calling persons at home, she was going to viewings.”
“What I looked at was the passion, and even now I look to see that although she is retired, she is still involved. You sit back and you reflect and you see that in order to do that you have to be selfless.”
It is this kind of selfless approach and involvement that has inspired Hinds to follow in her mother’s footsteps, giving of her own time to the Cancer Support Services.
She said as she looked for ways in which she could give back to society, this organization was the obvious vehicle for a start.
“One of the things that I have seen in my short term in leadership is that there are lots of persons with a lot of skills who are willing to give back,” said Hinds, as she made mention of the retired nurses and other health care professionals who volunteer their services, not for compensation but because of their love, passion and caring for people.
“We are there to support persons who have either been diagnosed with cancer and their families, because in the journey of cancer it is not just the person who is diagnosed that is affected. It is also the persons who are around them” said Hinds.
Her organization factors in the caregiver, a critical figure in the support network, who it is accepted needs someone there to give them encouragement, to be a source of strength and also to provide tangible support.
“We are looking at cancer across the spectrum, not just after diagnosis. We also are interested in education,” Hinds said.
Through education, Cancer Support Services is trying to get people to realize that the fight against cancer is not solely the battle of the victim.
Hinds wants to see Barbadian men following the example of the Victorious Ladies, a group of cancer survivors who have banded together under the umbrella of the organization to encourage and strengthen one another, forming a strong support network.
She regrets there is no similar support group for men, and is concerned that this segment of society “tends to shy away” from health care matters.
“As president that is one of the passions I have, to see more men involved in Cancer Support Services,” said Hinds. She is encouraging more men, especially those who may have been diagnosed and healed, to come forward and be advocates, as a form of encouragement for other men.
“I believe that if men begin to step forward and encourage their peers, that will help us in terms of targeting men. I want to see men reaching men,” the president said.
Her outreach also targets young people, and she has started at home.
She is inculcating eight-year-old daughter Leeka Faith with the same principle of helping, something which she says is “dear to my heart as an educator and as a business leader” – making deposits in other people’s lives. In all this, she is driven and fortified by a deep Christian faith.
The main project of Hinds’ tenure will be the Cancer Support Services New Dimensions Project, an outreach programme targeting children, men, the children of cancer sufferers specifically, and the wider community.
The new president speaks passionately about her plans, and one understands why.
Ward C 12 was “the catchphrase” in her household when she was growing up.
“My mum’s work was a part of her life and her passion, so looking on and seeing that, even in my profession as a teacher that influenced how I approached my work.”
That is also why she is going all out to try to make a difference through Cancer Support Services.
