Success Stories: The Predicament Triggered Founding of MAHAK

On a cold winter day in 1989, a two-year old girl named Kiana was having her regular check–up when her physician diagnosed her with an illness that would shake up any mother. There were a lot of difficulties during Kiana’s treatment. The required medication was scarce and very expensive and not enough information about cancer and the side effects of the drugs were available. She successfully fought an arduous battle, she not only survived, she thrives. Thanks to this victory, her mother, Ms. Saideh Ghods became intensely preoccupied with the idea of building a charity-oriented organization for cancer-stricken children and their families. Very soon thereafter, MAHAK was born, and as they say, the rest is history.

Currently as a volunteer of MAHAK, Kiana has been very active in the international arena. It is with her predicament that triggered the founding of MAHAK in which its base promotes hope and spreads the message that “Cancer is not the end” around the world. Her mother, Ms. Saideh Ghods is the founder of MAHAK who after 23 years is currently a member of the board of directors, and the board of trustees, which has been able to provide comprehensive coverage to close to 22,000 cancer-stricken children of every nationality, religion, and ethnicity and their respective families. In addition to work done through MAHAK, she is also an active regional board member of ICCCPO. Ms. Ghods has gone on to help develop other NGOs such as ISCC, BCSI, and the GFI to promote Iran’s cancer treatment as well as help the environment. Today she continues to travel throughout Iran and the world organizing, meeting, fund raising, and developing way to foster and grow these organizations.