Breast cancer has an incredibly good prognosis if it is caught early. Yet thousands of economically-disadvantaged South African women don't have access to simple diagnostic tools such as mammograms which would significantly increase their chances of survival.
The answer was to take the service to the patients. So, in 2009, PinkDrive took to the road in a vivid pink truck, delivering breast screening to women at hospitals, clinics and community health centres in urban and semi-urban areas.
Today the organisation runs two mobile units and three educational cars which travel across the country. To date, PinkDrive has performed 8,087 mammograms and 118,652 clinical breast examinations, while educating 154,981 women on breast health.
Fundraiser and cause marketing whiz, Noelene Kotschan is the driving force behind PinkDrive. We asked her a few questions about what motivates her and keeps her going.
Noelene Kotschan:I come from a strong marketing background in the IT industry. I love to push my boundaries and to take on new challenges. I reached a stage in my life where I wanted to see change in the cancer space - but the only way that I could achieve this was to be the change I wanted to see.
Kotschan: An explorer! Being a type-A personality and a risk taker, I wanted to learn about everything and how and why things worked. I 'discover' daily how generous corporates and individuals are.
Kotschan: It was evident, from all the data available, that the only tangible solution was to take education and mammography services to the people of South Africa.
Kotschan: The thing I love most is that each day holds new challenges and possibilities. I believe in a hands-on approach, so I attend nearly every meeting and virtually every event, while also securing funding and overseeing the overall operations. Together with my skilled team - which handles admin, medical and marketing - we keep PinkDrive moving.
Kotschan: The fact that I know that PinkDrive is making a difference in people's lives. We might never meet all the people we touch, but I sleep soundly knowing that PinkDrive is helping someone somewhere in South Africa.
Kotschan: It is always apparent that it takes a mother to raise a child and women to uplift a nation. All South African women must stand together and look to the future.
My key lessons in life play a role in the way I do business:
Kotschan: Personal time - what's that?
When I do have spare time, I spend it with my loving, supportive husband, children and grandchildren. They give me the strength to get out of bed every morning.
My husband, Roy, is the one who listens to me at the end of a long day and encourages me to continue. When the chips are down and I feel that I can't go on, he'll say: "So if you don't do it, then who will?"
