A long journey to create awareness on cervical cancer

A car enthusiast, Meenakshi Arvind loves to conquer roads, explore new places and experience new cultures and lifestyles. It all started in 2016 when she went on an India-Thailand trip. Through various social media platforms, she reached out to like-minded women to join the trip. Later in 2017, she travelled from Coimbatore to London in a car to spread awareness about women’s empowerment and literacy. Recently, the 47-year-old, along with seven other adventurers embarked on a 52-day trip from Coimbatore to St Petersburg, Russia, in two vehicles.

“Statistics show that in India, every eight minutes a lady is succumbing to cervical cancer. What many are not aware of is that it is the only type of cancer that can be prevented with a vaccine. There is no awareness of this. I decided to promote awareness on cervical cancer and how it can be totally prevented and that’s how I started this journey,” says Meenakshi.

They started the expedition on August 6 and concluded it on September 27. The trip included countries like Nepal, Tibet, and China. “We covered almost 21,700 km on road by car. Unlike the previous trips, this car ride was challenging for us. We had to drive through the Trans-Siberian highway, one of the most dangerous highways in the world. Stretching almost 7,000 miles from St Petersburg to Vladivostok, the Trans-Siberian Highway is also one of the longest roads in the world across some of the toughest environments and terrain around.For almost 200-300 miles, you cannot even see any human beings on the road. We drove 1,000 km for 2-3 days. It is quite challenging to drive long stretches without food or any place to stay,” recalls the adventure junkie about her legendary road trip.

Apart from conveying the message about the prevention of cervical cancer, Meenakshi tells that such car rides help her to meet people and share about India’s culture and heritage. “We get to meet interesting people and even groups who campaign for various causes. It’s a learning experience for all of us,” says Meenakshi.

To share her travel experiences with namma ooru people, she has compiled all the pictures from the trip and put up an exhibition at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture on Kasturi Rangan Road. “More women should come forward to travel and inspire others. Also, I am planning to host talks across schools, colleges and other institutions about the prevention of cervical cancer,” she remarks.