Centre for Cancer Patients

The life of an individual is a constant reconciliation with the space between ill health and good health. When it comes to fatal diseases such as cancer, it is not just the patient who suffers, but also their families and loved. In the midst of such suffering and pain, Thiruvananthapuram’s CH Centre prides itself in offering a corner where people can seek peace and kindness. For cancer patients both within and outside Kerala, the centre remains a flicker of hope—a source of shelter and solace for patients and their loved ones seeking cancer treatment in hospitals such as RCC and Sree Chitra.

The CH Muhammad Koya Memorial Charitable Centre, located on Chalakkuzhi Road, adjacent to Thiruvanathapuram Medical College, was conceptualised in 2004, under the auspices of then–Education Minister, ET Mohammed Basheer, MP.

In 2006, the centre acquired 25 cents on Chalakkuzhi Road, where then–Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy and then–Minister for Industries and Social Welfare PK Kunhalikutty laid the foundation for a structure that could accommodate RCC and Sree Chitra patients as well as their caregivers.

Today, CH Centre stands tall

The relentless efforts of several people have gone into making the centre what it is today. From its establishment till the present day, the centre has been at the receiving end of the kindness and generosity of various regimes, as well as the relentless service and kindness of its employees. From those who called for the ambulance and completed formalities, to those who comforted the patients and those who stood by them through it all—there are so many people to thank, who continue to volunteer their services even without remuneration; they are repaid only in the gratitude and prayers of those they have nursed back to health. Could such kindness be answerable to anyone but god?

Over 500 people fed, each day, every day

To provide its services, such as accommodation, medical care, ambulance services, water and electricity provisions, employees’ salaries, and so on, the centre incurs a monthly expenditure of over INR 7 lakh. It is to meet these expenses of the centre that the 11-storey for-profit Relief Tower has been established. With the establishment of new services, CH Centre continues to grow towards the fruition of its goal. Today, the centre continues to provide its services, fuelled by the grace of god and the blessings and support of well-wishers.

A decade-and-a-half long endeavour to provide medical care and food to thousands of patients, free from discrimination

The centre has successfully provided free food and shelter to not only patients, but also their caregivers. Today, it stands out as an exemplar of human kindness. The centre symbolises the achievements that are possible when people come together, driven by kindness and love, towards a common goal for the betterment of others. This achievement is augmented by people from across the world who have contributed to the centre by no motivation other than their desire to help and ease the suffering of others. The cup of kindness runneth over, and it is held steadily by the non-resident Malayalis who contribute to the cause.

A fatal disease that arrives when we least expect it, creeping in like an uninvited guest

It breaks down expectations, turns lives upside down. And it persists, adamant in the face of patients spending every penny they have to their name and sacrificing everything they own towards its treatment. At hospitals such as RCC, one frequently witnesses numerous cancer patients, holding back intolerable pain and straddling the space between life and death. Some require regular radiation therapy or chemotherapy, while others have travelled from faraway towns. There are those unable to afford medication; those unable to afford food; those unable to find shelter, even in pouring rain and frigid cold; those who have been abandoned and have nobody to turn to…the list is endless, as, oftentimes, the suffering seems to be.

It breaks down expectations, turns lives upside down. And it persists, adamant in the face of patients spending every penny they have to their name and sacrificing everything they own towards its treatment. At hospitals such as RCC, one frequently witnesses numerous cancer patients, holding back intolerable pain and straddling the space between life and death. Some require regular radiation therapy or chemotherapy, while others have travelled from faraway towns. There are those unable to afford medication; those unable to afford food; those unable to find shelter, even in pouring rain and frigid cold; those who have been abandoned and have nobody to turn to…the list is endless, as, oftentimes, the suffering seems to be. The centre is the result of an initiative undertaken by a local official in the area. The sights at RCC as well as in nearby spaces caused him a great deal of consternation, and he, believing fellow feeling and kindness to be the channel for the divine, garnered the support of other likeminded people. Finally, with the blessings of Panakkad Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal, he set up the CH Mohammed Koya Memorial Charitable Centre, named after his role model, the politician CH Mohammed Koya.