By Moza Adilen | Communications and Fundraising Officer
September marks the beginning of the school year for many, welcoming a new calendar year and a new season. The month of September is also the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month — a solemn reminder of the thousands of children who are facing battles no child should ever have to fight. Like the 6-year old *Lani, who believes in magic, and who used to run freely with her brother, but is now committed mainly to her bedroom battling Osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer.
For children like Lani, this month isn’t marked by going back to school, catching up with old friends and sharing exciting holiday stories — it’s about hospital visits, scary treatments, and moments that are far too heavy for a child to carry.
On this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we recognise that not every child will be cured.
But every child deserves to be cared for, comforted, and supported.
That’s what Rachel House is here for — to bring light where there is despair, relief where there is suffering, and love into the lives of the children and their families.
One child at a time. One day at a time. One breath at a time.
DREAMS INTERRUPTED, LOVE UNSHAKEN
Six-year-old Lani used to believe she could do anything. She believed pencils were magic, that running fast made you fly, and that if you smiled wide enough, the world would smile back.
Every morning, she would race her big brother to the end of the street before school. She loved colorful notebooks, drawing hearts on her homework, and asking questions that made even her teachers pause. In her little world of magic, Lani was unstoppable — her dreams as big as the sky, her joy as endless as the playground.
But at the start of this year, something strange began to happen. The leg she ran with every morning started to hurt. Then it started to swell. Then it wouldn’t let her walk.
At first, her parents thought it was a small injury. A sprain, perhaps. But after weeks of tests and hospital visits, they were told the truth:
Lani had Osteosarcoma — a rare and aggressive bone cancer.
She didn’t fully understand the words, but she could feel the shift. The quiet conversations. The tears her mother tried to hide. The way her father held her a little longer each night.
In March, her right leg was amputated. A few months later, the cancer spread to her lungs. Now, Lani no longer races her brother. She can’t run. She can barely walk. Some days, it’s hard for her to even breathe.
A LITTLE ROOM, A LOT OF LOVE
Lani now spends most of her time in a small rented room that she shares with her brother and her parents, and her grandmother. A tiny space where the air is sometimes heavy, but it is filled with love.
Her father — once a corporate employee — now sells vegetables to make ends meet. Her mother - a breast cancer survivor with her own ongoing health challenges - rarely leaves Lani’s side. They take turns watching over her, day and night, never knowing when things might get worse. Her doctor has quietly warned that her lungs are fragile, and her heart is under pressure. Anything could happen, at any time.
But even in this uncertainty, Lani still laughs.
She still loves listening to her brother’s jokes. She still lights up when her dad returns from the market with her favorite treat. Some days, she wraps a scarf around her head — not because she has to, but because she feels shy about how much cancer has changed her body.
She is no longer the girl who runs down the street.
But she is still Lani. Still brave. Still full of light.
You Can Help Today
Your support brings comfort, dignity, and love to children like Lani. When you give, you help us:
Lani may never return to school or run again — but with your help, she can still smile, still dream, and still feel deeply cared for.
Donate this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Because no child should face pain alone. And every child deserves to be surrounded by love.
*Name changed for privacy
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