Hats & Roses: Hope in pink
Music and community in the fight against cancer
On Saturday morning, the Mercure Hotel was lit up in pink as 700 guests gathered for the Hats & Roses charity event. With moving performances and strong messages, the day was all about hope and change.
Saturday morning saw the annual Hats & Roses fundraiser at the Mercure Hotel in Windhoek.The event, themed “Pink Africa”, was organised by the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) in collaboration with Sanlam Namibia. With a range of inspirational speeches, giveaways and activities, the day was a memorable one.
The event featured Namibian Queens of Song, Lize Ehlers, Johné Louw and Tjiuru Kay. The highlight of the morning, however, was “Jabulani” singer PJ Powers Thandeka, who captivated all 700 people in attendance with her electric energy.
CAN chief executive Rolf Hansen shared that what started as a tea party in a garden themed “Cup for Cancer” has now grown into one of the most prominent fundraisers in support of cancer awareness and treatment in Namibia.
“In 2015, I took over at CAN and thought to myself: we have a brilliant product that can bring many people together, raise awareness, connect people and raise a lot of money for the development of women's clinics. The question was what are we actually going to do to show that we can have a tangible impact and how we can affect people's lives,” he said.
Like many others, this event was severely impacted by Covid and had to be put on hold for some time. Hansen explained that it was difficult to get back on its feet after the pandemic because “economically, Namibia was simply not prepared for such an event”.
For this year's edition, however, the CAN team decided that “we needed to put Covid behind us and put on a production that would connect these women. And we needed an artist to bring these women together.”
Hansen hailed the fundraiser a huge success. “When I think about what we have achieved today, I am very excited. The positive feedback from the ladies has shown that this event is still a powerful catalyst for change,” he said.