Mathiwos Wondu Ye-Ethiopia Cancer Society, a local nonprofit founded by a father who lost his son, Mathiwos, to cancer. Instead of retreating into grief, Wondu Bekele created an organisation that mobilises global and local resources to support families, especially women and children, facing cancer.

Wondu Bekele Woldemariam, Ethiopia

I am Wondu Bekele from Ethiopia, a father of Mathiwos, our third and youngest son, who died 13 years ago from leukemia (ALL type) and for whom our Society – the “Mathiwos Wondu-YeEthiopia Cancer Society” – is named.www.mathycancersoc.org. I joined the war on cancer just after I lost my beloved son. I can’t tell you how much cancer affected my family: emotionally, physically and financially. I don’t have the proper words to tell you how much we all miss our beloved son Mathiwos.