WUNRN
SAUDI ARABIA - WOMEN CREATE LARGEST
EVER HUMAN
PINK RIBBON FOR BREAST CANCER
AWARENESS
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Saudi and expatriate women move
in a file donning pink tops and scarves to make a statement at the Zahra Breast
Cancer Association-organized human-awareness ribbon event at the Ministry of
Education Stadium in Jeddah's Faisaliah district on Thursday. Over 5,000 women
gathered to create the world's largest-ever human pink ribbon. (AN photos by
Sarah Shaban, Fatima Sidiya & Rima Mukhtar)
Saudi Arabia: Over
5,000 Saudi and expatriate women on Thursday created the world’s largest human
pink ribbon in aid of breast cancer awareness in Jeddah.
According to
organizers, the number of women coming into the Education Ministry Stadium in
the Faisaliah district exceeded 5,000. However, around 1,000 left before the
actual formation of the ribbon due to the delays in getting the sheer numbers
of people organized.
The women
were able to break the record within the first two hours of the event, as both
Saudis and expatriate residents came out in droves to support one single yet
very important cause.
The
Riyadh-based Zahra Breast Cancer Association organized the event. Princess
Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, founding member of the association, was the
driving force behind the campaign, held under the support of the Sultan bin
Abdul Aziz Foundation.
Princess
Reema said the private sector and the government have been very supportive of
the foundation’s breast cancer awareness initiative.
“Let it be
known that as of this day, ignorance is no longer an excuse and no woman should
be allowed to be left to suffer in silence,” Princess Reema had said at the
launch of the awareness campaign.
Attendance at
Thursday’s event easily topped the previous record of 3,640 set in
The pink
human chain, consisting of both Saudis and expatriate residents donning the
pink tops and scarves, was built in the shape of the global ribbon of breast
cancer awareness.
Saudis and
foreign residents, including Arabs, Indonesians, Americans, British, Filipinos
and Asians, had been streaming into the stadium since 5 p.m. Only those with
transport problems and young children left early.
Participant
Aseel Hindi is a 26-year-old math teacher who came all the way from Makkah. “We
knew about the event through Facebook three days ago, and we as friends managed
to gather and come a long distance to be part of the new Guinness record for
the first time ever in our lives,” she said. Over 100 media outlets from around
the globe also attended.
It was also
the first time women in Jeddah were able to experience the atmosphere of a
stadium in the Kingdom.
The stadium
was half open, which led participants to cluster in one place. Students from
different schools and universities as well as employees of companies and
hospitals attended.
Some students
said the atmosphere was great and enjoyed socializing with each other.
Sixteen-year-old high school student Nouf said she and her classmates knew
nothing about the illness and were only there because they had been asked to
attend by their teachers.
According to
Colleen, who came along with her British friends at the start to support the cause,
the event was great but the numbers caused some delays.
“We came
because we really wanted to be part of (this event) because it is the first
time that something like this is happening in
“It is
disappointing, everybody here wants to be part of this and be involved, but it
[took] a long time.”
Private
school teachers were in a rush to leave because they had to take the pupils
back to school. One of the teachers said: “We’ve been here since five and have
promised (parents) that the students will be back by 9:30 p.m. and the event is
going on for too long.”
“I thought
some sessions or awareness flyers would be distributed to help us learn more
about the illness. We even expected some victims to come,” said participant Um
Tariq.
Breast cancer
is the most-diagnosed form of cancer in