|
Jina Peiris, Cerritos, California, is a trained women's advocate and counselor for victims of domestic violence. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Peiris is a 14-year breast cancer survivor and is well known in the Sri Lankan community as an active volunteer health advocate. After cancer treatment, Peiris became a volunteer with the American Cancer Society and was among the first women in the South Asian community to talk publicly about her disease. She appeared as a breast cancer survivor in the first-ever South Asian media advertising campaign promoting early detection, and empowered other survivors to do the same. She assisted in the Cancer Detection Section (CDS) photo-documentary project designed to show real people -their faces and stories- by recruiting South Asian women who make up the statistics of the California State's breast and cervical cancer screening programs. She serves on the steering committee of the Asian & Pacific Islander National Cancer Survivors Network (API-NCSN) and served on the board of South Asian Network (SAN). She is co-founder of SAATH, a South Asian cancer foundation. Her mission is to educate South Asian communities around the globe to move away from old myths such as, "cancer is contagious, embarrassing, or shameful and a curse." | 