The 4th of February is World Cancer Day, although for all those who suffer from cancer, each and every day is the most important day of their lives. Here at Kukuxumusu we have made several drawings over the years for this cause; be it for family associations of victims, friends, or directly for some of those people who have suffered from the illness. And we have always done the drawings with a touch of humor, trying to give the illness the slip, precisely because at bottom it is a very serious concern.

We know that humor cannot cure everything by itself, but it can lighten the load when you are feeling the weight and humor is always a good escape valve when you are feeling low. It helps you to fight the good fight and to find support from people when you find yourself on the tightrope.

Perhaps the drawing that best represents the spirit with which we confront those kinds of problems is the one we did for Saray, The Navarra Association for Breast Cancer. The drawing shows two Kukuxumusu cows leaning on each other to help confront that little monster that we call cancer. Without any doubt, there is nothing like a helping hand to serve as the best medicine in such moments – be it in the form of a conversation, a warm embrace, a shared joke, a friendly game…

Just a few days ago we sent off a thousand bracelets to Palma de Mallorca, to Aspanob, the Baleares Islands Parents Association for Children with Cancer. Thanks to them we discovered a real cool video which has been made by “Proyecto Juntos” under the title: “What question would you ask a kid suffering from cancer?” On this video we heard some really remarkable responses that helped to break all the clichés made about this subject.

We have also learned that the amount of money invested in Spain for cancer research is a paltry sum and an almost ridiculous figure compared to some other countries. It works out at just one euro per person per year! We know that some of our investigators are carrying out real miracles with negligible funding. This is confirmed by Marta Cardona, manager of CRIS Against Cancer, an entity whose main aim is to collect funds to finance investigation into this deadly illness.

Remarkably, the latest important donation received by this CRIS Foundation was particularly pleasing to hear: 36.000 euros which came from small donations which were collected by some 90 taxi-drivers from Andalucía, Asturias, Huesca, Murcia, Canarias, Barcelona, Cuenca, Albacete and A Coruña. In this particular initiative, Francisca González Hernán, a taxi-driver from Murcia had played a very active part and it was particularly sad to hear that he himself just recently passed away from a cancer illness.

Caps against cancer in children for AFANOC association.

A drawing against cancer in children for ADANO.

A drawing against cancer for Grupo Español de Pacientes con Cáncer (GEPAC)