Humanity

Most of you know me as Ayanna Pierce, the companion. But for the past five years, another part of my life has been equally important to me: my humanitarian work.
 

It is what led me to study public health and focus on prevention, health promotion and more equitable access to care. As a health coordinator, I have joined missions in Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Angola, Sierra Leone and Gambia, supporting free surgical and medical initiatives as well as early breast cancer detection.

This work has also taught me that care goes beyond medicine. Sometimes it means simply being there: making someone feel seen, understood and less alone through a long and difficult process.
 

During my most recent mission, I witnessed pain that is difficult to put into words. I met mothers breastfeeding their babies with one breast while the other had been devastated by cancer. I saw women living with advanced disease and wounds no one should have to endure, yet somehow continuing with extraordinary courage.

In those moments, I don't see patients. I see women, families and the devastating reality of what can happen when access to healthcare comes too late.
 

That is why early breast cancer detection has become especially important to me. Earlier detection can give women a much better chance of survival and reduce the need for more aggressive and costly treatment, yet screening remains difficult to access in many underserved communities.