Chitwan, Oct. 16 -- When Durga Devi Pudasaini of ward 2 in Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City, Makawanpur, was diagnosed with breast cancer more than two decades ago, many around her advised against treatment. "People used to say those who get cancer don't live long-why waste money and time?" recalls her husband, Badri Prasad Pudasaini, shaking his head. "But we chose to trust the doctors, not the rumours."

Now, 65-year-old Durga Devi is healthy, active and grateful. Her survival is more than personal triumph-it is a story that inspires other women in her community to seek timely diagnosis and treatment.

Durga was only 36 when she first felt a lump in her left breast around 1996. "It kept growing," she said. "We went to local clinics and eve...