shut up christine | |
Friday, May 23, 2008 ( 8:54 AM ) shut up christine i couldn't make this stuff up... This is Rohan's story, from Nirali's blog(it will also give you an idea of the kind of people Sunil and Nirali are) When we met It was the first week of September at the Ahmedabad Gandhi Ashram when one could see the Sabarmati river in its fullness dancing away with the gentle wind. At some distance were two small little boys, just sitting in silence next to each other. They were not playing. Nor were they watching the river. They were mostly gazing into the white space. Yet a sense of sweetness completely ensconced them. They were insufficiently dressed, un-bathed and perhaps hungry. I watched them for a while. I asked around, but no guardians were in sight. I went up to interact with them and realized that the older boy was blind, deaf and mute. He must be eight years old; and the younger boy - maybe four years in age. I went to get food for them. They wiped off the entire plate of rice, dal and gulab jamuns within minutes. After sometime the older sister of the blind boy, Rohan, came with her husband. This woman Chaku (around 23 years old) is also deaf and mute and the younger boy is her son. Chaku lives with her husband, who is generally drunk, on the streets near Gandhi Ashram. They seem to have migrated from a village about 7 to 8 months ago. They have no belongings. Not even a basic chulha to cook food everyday. They survive on fish from the river and whatever leftovers they can find from the streets. The story unfolds After feeding the children I went into Manav Sadhna (an ngo that works inside the Gandhi Ashram) and asked them to take a look at the boys. They right away sent someone with a medical kit to clean up their wounds on their scalp (a common skin disease due to poor hygiene and nutrition). A few weeks later, one night, the family was sleeping on the footpath when some animal attacked Rohan. Rohan does not even know what bit him, but the animal chewed away a large chunk of muscle off his left arm. Sunil and some folks from Manav Sadhna took him to the hospital where he underwent a surgery. After the surgery, we thought of taking him to an eye hospital to see if there was a possibility for him to regain his vision. The Big Day The last few weeks have been nothing less than eventful. We have gone to several hospitals, and many eye specialists have examined him. Every kind of test has been conducted to make sure that he is fit for an operation. There were some doctors who have quoted upto Rs. 22,000 for Rohan’s eye surgery. We were prepared to pay the money and also had faith that everything would work out like it always does. However, this week we met up with the best eye surgeon of Gujarat, who also happens to be my cousin’s husband. He agreed to do the entire eye surgery for free. This has simply strengthened my faith in the kindness and generosity that abundantly exists all around us. Rohan's update, that I received in an email yesterday: This month again, Rohan went through another surgery in his right eye for his Glaucoma. On Monday, Dr. Ashish Nagpal put him under anesthesia once again to review. He is surely doing better. Rohan is now our brother, our son, our friend and an inspiration for Shvaas volunteers. However, none of this long term care and follow-up was possible without mentioning two very important people: 1) My cousin, Dr. Ashish Nagpal (who has never charged a penny for all surgeries and medicines & 2) Sunil, from Manav Sadhna (who has tirelessly taken care of Rohan throughout these months). Currently Rohan has vacations in school. He lives at the community center at Manav Sadhna, in an environment of love and attention. There are also many children his age in who visit the center daily. Most Importantly: Thank you everyone for your faith. For your love. For your prayers. -Nirali Shah #
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