Most childhood cancer patients don’t survive. Paediatric cancers are inherited. Cancer in children can be prevented. These misconceptions are common—and awareness remains low. NUS Nursing’s Project Iris aims to change that.
Each year, approximately 150 children in Singapore are diagnosed with cancer1. “Childhood cancer is more prevalent than many think,” said Chloe Chia, third year student at Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (NUS Nursing), National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. “But that was something I only found out after co-founding Project Iris. Even as a Nursing student myself, I had no idea—so we can imagine many others are equally unaware.”
What Chloe knew before co-founding Project Iris—an NUS Nursing project aimed at raising awareness for paediatric oncology—was that she wanted more exposure to interacting with paediatric patients before graduation. “Our paediatric clinical postings are only about one to two weeks long. That is hardly enough for those of us who are interested in the field.”
From Left: Chloe Chia, Tiffany Chee, undergraduates from NUS Nursing
HOW IT BEGAN
This seeded the idea for Project Iris—which further took root when Chloe met her co-founder Tiffany Chee, also a third year student at NUS Nursing, during a shared clinical posting. Chloe said, “We found we had common interests—I was interested in paediatrics and Tiffany was interested in paediatric oncology. It struck us that we could start our own project in NUS Nursing. Besides creating volunteer opportunities with paediatric oncology patients, we could share more about it with the NUS community.”
Chloe continued, “We couldn’t stop talking about it even after our posting ended. That’s when we realised that this was serious—and decided to bring it to life.” After rigorous planning and research, Project Iris was officially launched in March 2022. It was named after the flower that symbolises hope and courage, qualities often shown by childhood cancer patients.
“Since we were already halfway through the semester when we put out the recruitment call, I told Tiffany that we shouldn’t expect too much,” Chloe recalled. “Most students would already be involved with their chosen projects since the beginning of semester, so it was a nice surprise when we got 50 sign-ups—instead of the 20 we expected. We got a lot of interest both from students in and out of NUS Nursing. That made us decide to open up membership to the wider NUS community.”
Chloe (left), with Aaron and his mother, Lia
ONE YEAR ON
Staying true to its goal of raising awareness and exposure to paediatric oncology, Project Iris members regularly volunteer with non-profit organisations—Arc Children’s Centre, the Children’s Cancer Foundation and LOVE, NILS—orchestrating activities, befriending and mentorship sessions for children with cancer and their families.
Chloe said, “Due to COVID-19 measures, we had to limit some of our activities. Additionally, since the children had weaker immune systems, we could only conduct activities with those in remission. But we are always on the lookout for opportunities to increase the reach of our activities to positively impact a bigger group of paediatric oncology patients.
“Besides volunteering, we also conduct fundraising events such as the one we did for LOVE, NILS—but we don’t limit ourselves to organisations we usually work with,” said Chloe. “For example, a news story about a joke book written by childhood cancer survivor Aaron Tay—150 Jokes for Monstrously Funny Kids—caught my eye last year. For each book sold, $1 goes towards the Children’s Cancer Foundation. This inspired me to reach out and see if we could help in their fundraising efforts.”
Project Iris eventually helped to sell 42 copies of the joke book. “While the amount seems small, we are happy to have done our part in contributing to the total amount Aaron and his family raised as well as build awareness for paediatric oncology in the NUS Nursing community,” said Chloe. “The interactions with Aaron and his mother Lia were also valuable in helping us understand how we can better engage with other childhood cancer patients and their families in future.”
Aaron with his book —150 Jokes for Monstrously Funny Kids
