Dj Rachael Launches Go-fund-me for Cancer Treatment

US-based former Club Silk DJ and producer Rachael Kungu, commonly known as DJ Rachael, has launched an appeal for donations totaling $100,000 approximately Ugx 350,000,000 to support her cancer treatment.

She launched the fundraiser through the GoFundMe website and said that she was recently diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, which spread to her brain.

She also said the disease has made her left side of her body shaky and numb.

“I cannot work at all anymore because of what’s going on and stay in bed most of the time. My brain focus is gone, my vision is quite blurry sometimes, and my left side has become numb and doesn’t move well. I’m on steroids to help keep seizures away,” she said in a message she posted on the GoFundMe website.

She said the cancer diagnosis was a shock “I was never sick at all and recently just started feeling really, really fatigued at work and got terrible headaches. My life suddenly turned upside down in these last 3 months,” she said.

She revealed she is failing to pay her bills because of her inability to work.

“I have a huge monthly bill of items to take care of and a teen boy to look after, and he’s become very depressed and disillusioned of late. I therefore need help with paying rent, our monthly bills, and help buying food for at least a number of months,” she added.

DJ Rachel began DJing in the mid-1990s (around 1994-1995) at a time when female DJs were almost unheard of in Uganda. One of her early residencies was at Club Silk in Kampala where she worked for eight years honing her craft.

Her music style is eclectic: blending hip hip, Afro-house, EDM, gqom and local East African sounds. She’s performed across East Africa – including Kenya, Tanzania – and has also appeared at international showcases. For example, she was selected among only two African DJs at the WOMEX 2016 (World Music Expo) in Spain.