[Applause]
what if I told you getting breast cancer
was the best thing that ever happened to
me
well that just wouldn’t be true but it
did change my life completely I could
talk to you tonight I could talk to you
about what it was like for me to get
breast cancer it was in the summer of
2013 I was 38 a hard-working single mom
of two amazing young men until one day
when I felt a strange knob in my breast
and shortly after we found out that my
right breast was in fact my wrong breast
I turned out to be one out of nine women
in Belgium who will get breast cancer
during their lifetime which is about
10,000 women every single year who knows
someone who has had breast cancer so I
could tell you about how I then became a
cancer patient which meant that
everything I knew about mastectomy
chemotherapy radiation treatment and
especially their side effects turned out
to be very true for me and I could
elaborate on that by telling you how I
lost my long beautiful curls my eyebrows
and my eyelashes but on the upside I
okay let’s focus I’m sorry I’m just a
little bit nervous standing in front of
this massive crowd I need some help
I’m sorry sorry I’m so sorry
yeah no oh my so that’s really the
nightmare I sorry I forget my speech can
I start over yes
okay now act surprised what if I told
you getting breast cancer was the best
thing that happened to me
well that just wouldn’t be true but it
did change my life completely tonight I
could talk to you about what it was like
for me to get breast cancer it was in
the summer of 2013 I was 38 a
hard-working single mom of two amazing
young men until one day when I felt
estranged Noby my breast and shortly
after we found out that my right breast
was in fact my wrong rest so I could now
tell you about how I then became a
cancer patient which meant that
everything I knew about mastectomy
chemotherapy radiation treatment and
especially the side effects turned out
to be very true for me and I could
elaborate on that by telling you how I
lost my long beautiful curls my
eyelashes and my eyebrows but on the
upside it also meant I didn’t have to
[Applause]
but this was just a small break because
truth be told there was this strange
woman looking back at me from my
bathroom mirror with a pale face dark
puffy eyes one breast and one big scar
and she really looked like a freak to me
and sometimes it would even make me cry
I really wondered whether I would ever
turn back into myself again and I also
wondered whether I would ever find a man
preferably a cute and funny one to love
me for me and to all the single people
out there I would like to say that I did
find my one true love
a cute and funny one indeed in my very
darkest hour so it is possible yeah but
what I really want to talk to you about
tonight is this amazing thing I learned
about people during my treatments I
noticed there are so many people who
were eager to help me they wanted to
visit me they wanted to bring me foods
but I could almost never accept our
offers because I was either too tired or
too sick and so they asked me Amina what
can we do to help you so I asked them to
send me a postcard with a positive
message and they did let’s have a look
[Music]
and this was just a small selection of
the more than 150 postcards I received
during five months time
old school postcards can do so much more
than emails text messages of our
Facebook messages can remember this and
take this back home while my body had
worked so hard to get well again after
that I had my health back but I also
wanted my body back and it was very
clear to me that I would only feel
complete again if I had two breasts
because up until then I was thinking
about my chest 24/7 and I want that to
stop I wanted to move on with my life
and so I learned about the different
possibilities and I decided that a
breast reconstruction with my own soft
tissue for my belly was the best option
for me
but I also learned that this type of
surgery most of the cost of it is not
covered by my health insurance
this meant that on top of all the
medical bills and all the loss of income
due to being sick this would cost me
five thousand euros money I simply
didn’t have and then I remembered all my
family and friends they said
Yamina we wish there was something we
could do for you I decided it was time
to accept their help and ask for it and
so I started to plan a party for my 40th
birthday which wasn’t the crisis at all
because I’m sure you understand after
the cancer diagnosis scare I welcomed
every single birthday and so I invited
all my family and my friends and also
all their friends who had sent me a
postcard
on the invitation for the party I asked
everyone instead of spending money on a
gift to consider buying me a piece of
boob and they did so what if I told you
this party raised enough money to pay
for my surgery Wow I was really baffled
and if this was the end of the story it
will already be an amazing one to tell
but I just felt in my heart that this
could be a way to help other women were
facing the same injustice
I knew my situation was not unique just
doing nothing wasn’t an option for me I
just had to do something and so I
decided to start up a nonprofit
organization called beady teeth I had no
business experience whatsoever and I
wasn’t quite sure how I was going to
make this work but my faith was bigger
than my fear and also I remember the
code by Pippi Longstocking and she said
I have never tried that before so I
think I’m definitely sure I will be able
to do that and that’s when I came up
with inner crowdfunding inner
crowdfunding it is not like regular
crowdfunding it’s actually crowdfunding
combined with inner circle so how does
it work first there is a woman who needs
our support then we reach out to her
family her friends her co-workers our
neighbors and we encourage them to make
a donation to pay for the surgery so
anyone who is contacted by abilities is
receiving a message about a woman they
know very well loved very much and
really care about if needed we add
donations from people we received from
the network of Bennet it turns out that
people really love to participate in
this which is no wonder because just
think about when you know someone you
love
is sick or in need and there seems to be
nothing you can do for them on your own
with inner crowdfunding you actually can
do something that is extremely
meaningful now from my own experience I
know that a network is always very
grateful to donate for their loved one
having said all this it is also true
that we are much better at giving
supports than we are at asking for it we
all really love to help but we run away
from asking for help and I know it’s not
easy to do I really know because I asked
help for myself with my fundraising I
had to overcome shame and embarrassment
about my situation but once I did it
truly turned out to be the greatest gift
I could have ever given myself and it’s
not even about the surgery it’s not even
about the money it’s all about the love
because by asking you are giving you are
giving people around you the opportunity
to show you just how much they really
care for you and this is exactly why I
am so passionate about inner
crowdfunding rather than just raising
funds and pay for hospital bills
since the startup of being a teets we
have helped close to 30 women pay for
the breast reconstruction they just
couldn’t afford but really needed to
feel whole and complete again very much
like the way I raise funds for my breast
reconstruction their funds were raised
by their own family and own friends and
sometimes with the help of the network
of bilities when I launched inner
crowdfunding it was specifically meant
to raise money for breast
reconstructions but inner crowdfunding
can actually be used for any type of
fundraising the only thing I ask in
return oh I invite you all sorry to
shamelessly steal my idea and to put it
the the only thing I ask in return is
that you let me know when you do so on
this website so getting breast cancer
definitely wasn’t the best thing that
could have happened to me but it did
change my life completely and it will
change many more lives because just one
week ago I am know because while we were
raising funds to pay for breast
reconstructions we also lobbied to get a
full refund of this type of surgery and
I am very very happy to tell you that
just one week ago a breakthrough was
announced by our Minister of Public
Health mijita block this means that from
now on women will no longer have to pay
for their own breast reconstruction and
me I am so very happy that I was able to
play a part in that with the work that
we do with Bennett eat so getting breast
cancer one could say that it turned me
into the social entrepreneur I even
never knew I could be and it gave me the
opportunity to make a change in people’s
lives like a change a change was made in
mine I say adversity shows true
character and I chose that character to
be like Wonder Woman the new type of
hero initially intended to fight but not
with fists and firepower but with love
thank you
[Applause] [Music]
what if I told you getting breast cancer
was the best thing that ever happened to
me
well that just wouldn’t be true but it
did change my life completely I could
talk to you tonight I could talk to you
about what it was like for me to get
breast cancer it was in the summer of
2013 I was 38 a hard-working single mom
of two amazing young men until one day
when I felt a strange knob in my breast
and shortly after we found out that my
right breast was in fact my wrong breast
I turned out to be one out of nine women
in Belgium who will get breast cancer
during their lifetime which is about
10,000 women every single year who knows
someone who has had breast cancer so I
could tell you about how I then became a
cancer patient which meant that
everything I knew about mastectomy
chemotherapy radiation treatment and
especially their side effects turned out
to be very true for me and I could
elaborate on that by telling you how I
lost my long beautiful curls my eyebrows
and my eyelashes but on the upside I
okay let’s focus I’m sorry I’m just a
little bit nervous standing in front of
this massive crowd I need some help
I’m sorry sorry I’m so sorry
yeah no oh my so that’s really the
nightmare I sorry I forget my speech can
I start over yes
okay now act surprised what if I told
you getting breast cancer was the best
thing that happened to me
well that just wouldn’t be true but it
did change my life completely tonight I
could talk to you about what it was like
for me to get breast cancer it was in
the summer of 2013 I was 38 a
hard-working single mom of two amazing
young men until one day when I felt
estranged Noby my breast and shortly
after we found out that my right breast
was in fact my wrong rest so I could now
tell you about how I then became a
cancer patient which meant that
everything I knew about mastectomy
chemotherapy radiation treatment and
especially the side effects turned out
to be very true for me and I could
elaborate on that by telling you how I
lost my long beautiful curls my
eyelashes and my eyebrows but on the
upside it also meant I didn’t have to
[Applause]
but this was just a small break because
truth be told there was this strange
woman looking back at me from my
bathroom mirror with a pale face dark
puffy eyes one breast and one big scar
and she really looked like a freak to me
and sometimes it would even make me cry
I really wondered whether I would ever
turn back into myself again and I also
wondered whether I would ever find a man
preferably a cute and funny one to love
me for me and to all the single people
out there I would like to say that I did
find my one true love
a cute and funny one indeed in my very
darkest hour so it is possible yeah but
what I really want to talk to you about
tonight is this amazing thing I learned
about people during my treatments I
noticed there are so many people who
were eager to help me they wanted to
visit me they wanted to bring me foods
but I could almost never accept our
offers because I was either too tired or
too sick and so they asked me Amina what
can we do to help you so I asked them to
send me a postcard with a positive
message and they did let’s have a look
[Music]
and this was just a small selection of
the more than 150 postcards I received
during five months time
old school postcards can do so much more
than emails text messages of our
Facebook messages can remember this and
take this back home while my body had
worked so hard to get well again after
that I had my health back but I also
wanted my body back and it was very
clear to me that I would only feel
complete again if I had two breasts
because up until then I was thinking
about my chest 24/7 and I want that to
stop I wanted to move on with my life
and so I learned about the different
possibilities and I decided that a
breast reconstruction with my own soft
tissue for my belly was the best option
for me
but I also learned that this type of
surgery most of the cost of it is not
covered by my health insurance
this meant that on top of all the
medical bills and all the loss of income
due to being sick this would cost me
five thousand euros money I simply
didn’t have and then I remembered all my
family and friends they said
Yamina we wish there was something we
could do for you I decided it was time
to accept their help and ask for it and
so I started to plan a party for my 40th
birthday which wasn’t the crisis at all
because I’m sure you understand after
the cancer diagnosis scare I welcomed
every single birthday and so I invited
all my family and my friends and also
all their friends who had sent me a
postcard
on the invitation for the party I asked
everyone instead of spending money on a
gift to consider buying me a piece of
boob and they did so what if I told you
this party raised enough money to pay
for my surgery Wow I was really baffled
and if this was the end of the story it
will already be an amazing one to tell
but I just felt in my heart that this
could be a way to help other women were
facing the same injustice
I knew my situation was not unique just
doing nothing wasn’t an option for me I
just had to do something and so I
decided to start up a nonprofit
organization called beady teeth I had no
business experience whatsoever and I
wasn’t quite sure how I was going to
make this work but my faith was bigger
than my fear and also I remember the
code by Pippi Longstocking and she said
I have never tried that before so I
think I’m definitely sure I will be able
to do that and that’s when I came up
with inner crowdfunding inner
crowdfunding it is not like regular
crowdfunding it’s actually crowdfunding
combined with inner circle so how does
it work first there is a woman who needs
our support then we reach out to her
family her friends her co-workers our
neighbors and we encourage them to make
a donation to pay for the surgery so
anyone who is contacted by abilities is
receiving a message about a woman they
know very well loved very much and
really care about if needed we add
donations from people we received from
the network of Bennet it turns out that
people really love to participate in
this which is no wonder because just
think about when you know someone you
love
is sick or in need and there seems to be
nothing you can do for them on your own
with inner crowdfunding you actually can
do something that is extremely
meaningful now from my own experience I
know that a network is always very
grateful to donate for their loved one
having said all this it is also true
that we are much better at giving
supports than we are at asking for it we
all really love to help but we run away
from asking for help and I know it’s not
easy to do I really know because I asked
help for myself with my fundraising I
had to overcome shame and embarrassment
about my situation but once I did it
truly turned out to be the greatest gift
I could have ever given myself and it’s
not even about the surgery it’s not even
about the money it’s all about the love
because by asking you are giving you are
giving people around you the opportunity
to show you just how much they really
care for you and this is exactly why I
am so passionate about inner
crowdfunding rather than just raising
funds and pay for hospital bills
since the startup of being a teets we
have helped close to 30 women pay for
the breast reconstruction they just
couldn’t afford but really needed to
feel whole and complete again very much
like the way I raise funds for my breast
reconstruction their funds were raised
by their own family and own friends and
sometimes with the help of the network
of bilities when I launched inner
crowdfunding it was specifically meant
to raise money for breast
reconstructions but inner crowdfunding
can actually be used for any type of
fundraising the only thing I ask in
return oh I invite you all sorry to
shamelessly steal my idea and to put it
the the only thing I ask in return is
that you let me know when you do so on
this website so getting breast cancer
definitely wasn’t the best thing that
could have happened to me but it did
change my life completely and it will
change many more lives because just one
week ago I am know because while we were
raising funds to pay for breast
reconstructions we also lobbied to get a
full refund of this type of surgery and
I am very very happy to tell you that
just one week ago a breakthrough was
announced by our Minister of Public
Health mijita block this means that from
now on women will no longer have to pay
for their own breast reconstruction and
me I am so very happy that I was able to
play a part in that with the work that
we do with Bennett eat so getting breast
cancer one could say that it turned me
into the social entrepreneur I even
never knew I could be and it gave me the
opportunity to make a change in people’s
lives like a change a change was made in
mine I say adversity shows true
character and I chose that character to
be like Wonder Woman the new type of
hero initially intended to fight but not
with fists and firepower but with love
thank you
[Applause] [Music]
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