Each of the parents and children whose surgeries were facilitated by Aman ki Asha and Rotary’s Heart to Heart convey their sincere gratitude and warm wishes.
Some Indian cases
It’s a two-way street
Pakistani Rotarians are helping needy Indian children undergo heart surgery in India. The Grant for most such heart surgeries is channeled under the Matching Grant Programme of the Rotary Foundation, Rotary International, Chicago. Some of their stories below.
Six-year-old Ganesh Yadav would get dizzy on the merry-go-round, faint with breathlessness and turn blue. The butt of cruel jokes from his schoolmates, he would cry at home and ask, “Why can’t I play like all of them?”
When his parents sought medical help, they learnt that Ganesh would require an expensive heart surgery. His father, a taxi driver in Kolkata, earning INR 3,000 a month, mentioned Ganesh’s plight to a passenger one day. Fortunately the passenger knew of the Aman Ki Asha-Rotary programme and sent the case to Heart to Heart. After various checkups Ganesh was operated upon, on Sept 8, 2011 at Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) Kolkata.
Dibya Roy, 6 years old, is the only daughter of a contractual laborer who earns INR 3,000 a month. Dibya had long absences from school due to illness. The Rotary Club of Kharagpur, India referred her case to Heart to Heart.. She was a “blue baby” – impure blood mixed with the pure because of holes in the chambers of her heart, giving her tongue, lips, pallor and nails a bluish tinge. The expensive, risky surgery took place at B. M. Birla on Aug 17, 2011. For a while it was touch-and-go as Dibya battled infection. She was discharged on Aug 26, 2011. A group of Rotarians who visited her later found Dibya singing in a melodious voice. She wants to be “A singer in Sa-Re-Ga-Ma Little Champs!”
Atif Kazi, 9 years old, is the son of a barber from Jharkhand, India. His many ailments included low weight gain. He was diagnosed with congenial heart disease at The Mission Hospital, Durgapur. Two weeks later, he was admitted to the hospital, requiring a Mitral Valve Replacement, an expensive and risky surgery. His father earns barely enough to feed the family. Dr Satyajit Bose of The Mission Hospital referred the case to Heart to Heart., which sponsored the surgery.
Two-year-old Poonam Sarkar couldn’t play outdoors due to breathlessness and frequent illness. Her father, a daily wage labourer in Nadia district, India, earns about INR 1,500 a month and could barely buy her regular medicines. The Nadia District Hospital diagnosed her as suffering from CHD requiring PDA Device Closure surgery. Her father brought her to Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS), Kolkata, and ran from pillar to post to get funds for the surgery. By a stroke of good fortune, he came into contact with the Rotary Club of New Alipore who approached the Aman ki Aasha-Rotary programme coordinators. Poonam was operated upon on Aug 10, 2011. She is back home, playing happily with her neighbours, reports her father.
Pakistani Rotarians have so far contributed to the heart surgeries of some 40 impoverished children in India, including those pictured here: Suprita, 7 years, Kolkata, daughter of a widowed mother; Santu Bera, 5 years, Kolkata, father is a landless labourer; Ladly Kumari, 2 years, Burdwan District, daughter of a farmer; Umrid, 18 years, Agartala, son of a truck driver; Meghnath, 4 years, Chandchak, Howrah, son of a farmer; Laamiah, 5 years, Munshirhat, Howrah, daughter of an agricultural labourer; Menoka, 18 years,Santaldih, Purulia, wife of a farmer; Shresth, 4 years, Jharia, Dhanbad, his father earns INR 2,500 a month; Sanvir, six months, Kolkata,daughter of a driver earning INR 3,000 a month; Simran, 8 years, Darjeeling, daughter of a milkman; Aritra, 3 years, District Nadia, son of a driver earning INR 2,500 a month; Sohail Khan, 11 months, West Bengal, son of a biri worker earning INR 1,500 a month; Tina Adak, 10 years, Chanditala, Hooghly, daughter of a daily labourer; Altaf, 5 years, Jharkhand, his father earns INR 2,000 per month; Suman, 5 years,
District Burdwan, his father is a BPL (below poverty line) card holder earning INR 600 a month; Farooq, 2 years, Hasnabad, son of a biri worker earning INR 700 a month; Sumit Kumar, 1 year, Giridih, Jharkhand, son of a carpenter who earns INR 1,750 per month;
Papiya Mondal, 2 years, Bongaon, her father is an agricultural labourer; Mampi Halder, 2 years, Parganas, West Bengal, his father is a daily labourer; Sakila Khatun, 6 years, District Burdwan, her father is a BPL card holder; Hasanur, 2 years, Murshidabad, India, son of a farmer; Shiba Saha, 1 month old; Aritra Dolui, 9 months, Kushtora, Paschim Medinipu, son of a daily labourer; Nepal Bhuia, 18 years, brought up by his aunt, a housemaid; Raj Sarkar, 4 months old, son of a stonemason; Trina Naskar, 1 year, Domjur, Howrah, daughter of a tailor; Sk Ajiju, 11 years, East Midnapore, West Bengal, his father earns INR 2,000 a month; Rahul Goswami, 8 years, Salkia, Howrah, his father works at a paan shop; Subhankar Jana, eight years, Kharagpur, son of an agricultural labourer; Chandni Khatun, 16 years, Howrah, daughter of a
security guard at Gurukul School; Omar Shahrukh, 1 month, Hasnabad, mother is a social worker, father earns INR 3,000 a month;
Kabita Kumari, 10 years, Bihar, daughter of a paanwalla; Rani Bag, 1 year, Hooghly, daughter of a daily labourer.
SOME PAKISTANI cases
“Your love did not stop at the border”
The stories of some Pakistani children helped by Indian Rotarians
Seven-year-old Siraj Ali lives with his parents and three siblings in Sukkur, Sindh. He required Intra Cardiac repair (ICR) for which the family was taking him to India, when his father Ashraf Ali, a shopkeeper, lost his job. Atif, a Sukkur resident supported him and also approached Rotary.
The case was approved for the Heart to Heart initiative. Dr Satyajit Bose at The Mission Hospital, Durgapur, performed the surgery, a complicated and expensive procedure, on June 22, 2011.
For the first time, Siraj’s family can dream of his future. “He will run the biggest shop in our mohallah (locality),” his doting mother said. Sukkur is known for its textiles and Siraj would often accompany his father to the shop, returning to tell his mother about the customers. His parents want to tell everyone who helped heal him, “Your love did not stop at the border”.
Lomesh Kumar, 2 years old, is the darling of his family in Digri, Mirpurkhas, Sindh. The youngest of three children, he was diagnosed with congenital heart disease soon after birth, and needed a PDA device closure. His father Bhura Lal, a small shopkeeper earning PKR 7,000 a month, could not afford the surgery. The Rotary Club of Digri Sindh referred his case to Heart to Heart, which enabled him to travel to India, escorted by his parents and siblings, to undergo surgery at The Mission Hospital, Durgapur.
His mother wept as she recounted how they had almost given up hope that he would get well. “How could we afford the surgery on my husband’s earnings, with seven mouths to feed,” she sobbed. But they were tears of joy. “He is well now and all I can say is that Allah intervened through you – you are doing His work,” she said.
The family returned to Pakistan on July 11, 2011 with their beloved child, who has had a new lease of life.
Aakash and Aatif, two companions in search of life…
Four-year-old Aakash Hussain and three-year-old Aatif Rind, from village Faiz Muhammad Bhangwar and Koro Khan Taluka Daur respectively, in Nawabshah, Sindh, had their cases processed and their approvals granted at the same time. Their families travelled together to Durgapur in West Bengal for the heart surgeries, facilitated by Heart to Heart.
Aakash’s father Ghulam Hussain is a rickshaw driver earning PKR 5,000/= per month. He learnt about Heart to Heart through an advertisment in Jang, and approached Rotarians in Nawabshah, including Dr Ayub who has long been helping send children for heart surgery in India.
After the application was approved, Ghulam Hussain had to prepare travel documents. With no money even for the passports and other travel related expenses, his friends and relatives contributed to help him out.
The two families travelled to Lahore in September 2011, where Rotarian Maj. Mujeeb Aftab received them and facilitated their transit stay. The family boarded a bus at 4 am the next day, reaching Delhi at 6:30 pm, where Rotarians received them. Two days later, they boarded a train to Durghapur, where Rotarians helped them get admitted to The Mission Hospital.
Both Aakash and Aatif were operated upon on Sept 20, 2011. Aakash was discharged within 10 days but Aatif took longer to recover. Rotarians in Durghapur and Delhi facilitated their return to Lahore, where Pakistani Rotarians took over.
Aatif’s father, a farm labourer is in contact with Dr Dr Satyajit Bose who operated upon Aatif, and calls him whenever he needs any advice. The response from Dr Bose is always prompt, he said gratefully.
