KARACHI - Some eighty children, suffering from cancer, had a memorable time at Family Fun Mela, organised by Children Cancer Hospital (CCH) at Clifton to provide them recreational activities and raise funds for the treatment of those children whose parents could not afford quality treatment. Over 200 male and female volunteers from different schools and colleges of the city established food and games stalls and helped the Children Cancer Hospital (CCH) administration highlight the cause and advocating people to assist in treatment of childhood cancer patients. Held under the auspices of Children Cancer Foundation Trust Pakistan, the event was sponsored and supported by various local and multinational pharmaceutical and oil companies to help generate funds for needy patients. Every year, 350 to 450 new cases of childhood cancer are brought at CCH Karachi for treatment from all over the country and over 70 per cent are provided quality treatment free of charge by the hospital that is being run on 'no profit no loss basis. A large number of families along with their kids, prominent personalities including showbiz stars, players and social workers visited the Family Fun Mela and lauded the organisers including CCH Karachi administration and Children Cancer Foundation Trust Pakistan for their efforts for the noble cause. Many prominent paediatricians along with their families also attended the recreational activity arranged for the amusement of children suffering from cancer and praised the organisers for spending their time and efforts for a noble cause. Over 90 stalls of different food items, games, magic shows, physical activities and health awareness were set up by the organisers, where childhood cancer patients as well as visitors enjoyed the food and recreational activities free of charge. On the other hand, children suffering from cancer along with their families enjoyed the event a lot as majority of them could not afford to visit amusement parks and other recreational facilities due to their health issues as well as their family backgrounds. I have never enjoyed as much in my entire life as I did here as except for the park near our home in Malir, I have never visited any place like this. Here I enjoyed the jumping castle, ate pizza and watched the magic show Laiba, a five old girl said. Laiba is suffering from childhood cancer and is being treated at CCH Karachi like many other children, who seldom visit recreational places for the kids in the city as neither could they afford nor their disease could permit them to take part in normal activities. Another cancer patient, Noman also expressed similar feelings, saying he always wait for such activities, organised by the hospital as CCH regularly holds such activities for the recreation of children under treatment at the hospital. Every month, the hospital organises such activities and I keenly await such programmes to have fun. Otherwise, most of the time, I have to remain lying or sitting on my hospital bed, undergoing treatment the 13-year old Noman said. Parents of the children cancer patients were also full of praise for the CCH administration and the Cancer Foundation, saying that they were not only providing quality treatment to their children but were also arranging fun activities for the children, which they could not even think of providing to their children. It is worth mentioning here that all the money raised through the Family Fun Mela would be utilised for the treatment of children cancer patients, as the hospital incurs over Rs 25,000 per month on the treatment of each child, admitted for the cancer treatment. Renowned child oncologist and chief executive officer of the CCH, Dr Muhammad Shamvil Ashraf, on the occasion felicitated the sponsors, supporters and common people for their help in organising the activity, saying without their generous support, CCH could not continue the gigantic task of treating cancer patients.