Capturing childhood cancer at CCCL

Images often convey messages more powerfully than words. They can express emotions or statements in a manner distinct yet complementary to words.

Following Mexico, Korea and Kenya, UICC recently commissioned a series of photo shoots at the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon, featuring patients and caregivers who have agreed to participate. This initiative aims to highlight the experiences of children living with cancer as well as their parents, and showcase the vital efforts of staff in offering care and support. 

Inaugurated in April 2002, the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon (CCCL) provides access to treatment for children with cancer, at no cost to their parents. It has supported around 5,000 children since year 2002 and currently has about 500 patients under treatment, ranging in age from a few months to 18 years. Treatment lasts on average three years at a cost of USD 40,000 USD to USD 200,000, and the average cure rate exceeds 80%. CCCL relies exclusively on donations to cover these costs. 

UICC collaborated for this photo mission with And So We Design, a women-owned agency that originated in Lebanon and is now based in Dubai and Toronto. 

The images taken at the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon in Beirut were captured by Nadim Bou Habib and reveal the extraordinary resilience of children living with cancer, the attention and concern of their parents, the dedication of the staff to providing a space of fun and enjoyment for these children. 

Nadim Bou Habib is a Lebanese portrait and documentary photographer based in Beirut. He has undertaken assignments for USAID, UNDP and GIZ and his work has been featured in national and international outlets. "Once approached for this job, I was all into this mission, unknowing what to expect in return until I realised that those tiny encounters were eye-opening on God's biggest gift of health, and how the lack of health can alter one's journey and life path," he said after capturing the journey of the children at CCCL.

Interview with Mrs. Hana Chaar Choueib, General Manager of CCCL 

What is your role at the organisation, specifically in relation to supporting children with cancer and their families?

As the General Manager of the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon (CCCL) for 20 years now, I lead the center to make sure our vision is always instilled in the team’s daily tasks and major projects; CCCL’s vision being to provide access to free standard treatment and care to all children with cancer in Lebanon and the region, without any discrimination. 

That definitely goes in addition to implementing our mission by:

Raising the needed funds to grant the kids access to the standard treatment regardless of their parents’ ability to pay, noting that CCCL covers the treatment costs of patients at several medical centres all over Lebanon, totalling 50% of the children with cancer in the country

Providing excellent psychosocial services to help fight the disease, given the importance of this factor in the comprehensive treatment and the kids’ wellbeing

Creating better understanding and awareness about cancer in the society as a whole

Additionally, from my position, I make sure to involve the people in power in our country and region, mainly the relevant ministers, to echo the children’s voices and make them heard. 

Why did you accept this photo mission project and have a photographer to capture images of children with cancer and their families?

As a UICC board member for the fourth consecutive year, raising the voices of our patients is one of my ultimate priorities and aspirations. 

Hence, as soon as we’ve been approached by UICC for the photo mission, we were extremely happy and welcoming of this project, and proceeded with all the needed preps to make it a success. And this is to shed the light on the importance of the media in translating our patients’ journey through cancer.

In what ways do you believe these photographs can effectively contribute to raising awareness about the challenges and realities faced by children with cancer?

As I've mentioned, media plays a crucial role in translating the journey of children with cancer and showcasing the real moments – both painful and happy ones – endured by children with cancer at CCCL. Every photograph actually speaks volume about what those kids are going through and transmits, powerfully in its stillness, their emotions and feelings.

How significant do you think participating in a photo shoot can be for a child with cancer and their family in terms of emotional support and awareness?

We have encountered at CCCL the power of photography and photo and video shoots through our Future Reina campaign in 2018, where the star of the latter was our dear patient Reina, whose perception and that of her parents of the disease shifted 180 degrees due to this campaign. In the latter, through Artificial Intelligence, we were able to give a glimpse into Reina's bright future, and convinced people that through their support, we can make sure she lives to see it. Afterwards, we saw how Reina and her family were completely positively impacted by this project and freely opened and comfortable confronting everyone with her disease.

Another recent project we launched is our Gift for Life e-commerce where the masterpieces of our children are showcased as digital art, exhibiting their emotional journey with cancer. Through this project, we not only showcased the emotions of our patients throughout their journey, but also let people have their feelings mirroring our children’s.

How was the overall experience for your team and people involved? 

Everyone involved in this photo mission was extremely touched and impressed by the quality of work and the professionalism of Nadim, the photographer. As for the children and their parents, they too were very happy and positively impacted by this experience.