UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

DELILAH GALANG is a retiree with a mission. Having seen how cancer can take away the lives of people dear to her, she has, since 2000, embarked on a personal mission to offer Filipinos an alternative way to treat and care for cancer patients.

This alternative way is the Gerson therapy introduced by the German physician Max Gerson in the 1920s. Gerson therapy is an all-natural non-toxic treatment program using organic foods, juices, coffee enemas, detoxification and natural supplements. Dr. Gerson founded the Gerson Institute based in San Diego, California to spread the word about Gerson therapy and to train caregivers to administer the therapy program.

How she got into Gerson therapy is interesting. Delilah’s nephew was just six years old when he was diagnosed with advanced non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Doctors gave him only a 25-percent chance of survival. He was having chemotherapy every three weeks.

After losing her mother to pancreatic cancer, Delilah didn’t want to lose her nephew to the dreaded disease. And so she researched on the Internet and found out about Gerson therapy. The success rate for treating cancer using Gerson therapy is reportedly 85 percent. The more she read, the more she wanted to learn, and so she enrolled in the practitioners’ intensive training program in San Diego.

She became the only licensed practitioner here in the Philippines. Applying what she has learned on her nephew, the boy got better. After six months of therapy, his blood was cleared of cancer. Today, he is 19 years old and has not been back to the hospital ever since.

If her nephew got well on Gerson therapy, Delilah knew many more people can benefit from the alternative therapy program. And so in 1990 she established the Cancer Council of the Philippines, a charitable organization. The organization has since been providing financial support to indigent patients. Delilah has also been practicing the Gerson therapy program on some patients.

Now here’s what she wants to do: Raise enough funds. These funds will be used to train more people as caregivers of the program. She also wants to get government accreditation for that caregiving training. She also wants to have an office and a wellness center where patients can come and relax. The funds will also be used to build the organization’s website so more people can know about it. Right now, Delilah is Cancer Council’s one-woman team.

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But how does one raise funds for a cause when there is donor fatigue? In the Philippines, alternative therapy is also not as well-received by people as traditional medicine.

Mentor Willy Arcilla recommends the following:

1. Raise the level of awareness about Gerson therapy by using mass media: TV, newspapers, and even websites. Doing so will educate people about the benefits of Gerson therapy.
2. Network with other cause-oriented organizations. Some organizations may have needs that Cancer Council of the Philippines may provide, and so a “swap” can be made for funds Cancer Council needs.

The business is laudable, says Willy. Let’s hope things work out in the coming months as Delilah does her homework.