Tahir Butt in 2019

There is no doubt that there is strength in numbers. Coming together for a good cause has been part and parcel of building community and the story that brings these like-minded people together is always worth telling. Tahir Butt has, this year, brought family, friends and many Kenyans together to raise funds to support cancer treatment for children at Kenyatta National Hospital. For this, he is one of our #Ke2019People.

Two years ago, Tahir lost his aunt to breast cancer. The loss made him question the illness, and what began as a quest for knowledge because a pursuit to do something about the other Kenyans dying from cancer. Current statistics show that at least 30,000 Kenyans give in to cancer annually.

Last year, while in Grade 10 at The Aga Khan Academy Nairobi, Tahir and his classmates were tasked with conceptualizing a social impact project. The project was an individual assignment that would contribute to each student’s grade but was also set to encourage them to get outside of their comfort zone and be more aware of the world around them.

Tahir saw the project as the perfect challenge to learn more but also be actively involved in creating awareness about cancer. From this, he had a rough idea of the scope of his project.

As most sixteen-year-olds would do, he turned to his parents for guidance. With their help, Tahir was able to get in communication with Ms. Shaira Adamali from the Faraja Cancer Trust who helped Tahir set up his plan for the project. He was already mobilizing a team that would eventually help him organize an event.

Through the Trust, Tahir was able to mould his project and gear it towards the treatment of cancer among children.
Next came a visit to the Kenyatta National Hospital’s Children’s Cancer Ward. The discovery here was that on average annually, there were 3,200 cancer cases among children. The treatment of this disease is particularly crucial but requires money – which tends to be a burden for some. As he thought of creative ways to fundraise for these kids, Tahir decided to bring some hoy to the children through music. Accompanied by extended family members who were all bound together by music, Tahir held a small music gathering for the kids at Kenyatta.

The little musical performance pushed Tahir further in his desire to raise funds for these children. His grandfather, Ustad Butt, is a renowned classical musician and songwriter who agreed to volunteer as a performer for the fundraiser-in-planning. And with Ustad came his music students. That one ‘yes’ gave Tahir the confidence not only to reach out to more family members, inviting them to volunteer, but he was able to summarize his project idea into a brief text that he and his parents would send out to their various contacts.

On the 9th of November 2019, Tahir’s event came to be. Held at the Faraja Trustee’s House, his target was to raise at least Ksh. 200,000 but friends and family showed up in numbers, eager to contribute what they could. The amount collected at the end of the evening was more than Ksh. 300,000 which further goes to show the strength in numbers. Throughout this project, Tahir has learned more about cancer but has also discovered the capability that was hiding within him – and his ability to bring people together – and for a good cause at that.

#Ke2019People
#PaukwaPeople