Four days ago I got a call from my neighbour's sister who also happens to be my friendly neighbourhood go-to-anytime beauty parlour lady.( My salon person, for the ultra chic and the non Indians among my readers). Her house is five minutes away from ours. She shared a really heart wrenching story.
Her friend and neighbour had delivered a baby girl prematurely and after twelve days of battling for life in an incubator, the little angel had finally succumbed to death. Her parents' appeal said that along with a few cherished memories, their baby had left behind a huge hospital bill which amounted to around seventeen thousand American dollars or eleven and a half lakh Indian rupees. They were appealing to all and sundry to donate money which would help them to pay off the bill as the little one had no insurance cover and the parents are not well off enough to have that kind of money handy.
Since my friend is well aware of my penchant for helping by leaping into any and every situation that demands it, even one in which angels may fear to tread, (I inherited this characteristic from my Mom), she called me up to apprise me of the situation and asked me if I would know of any organizations which would be willing to donate some amount of money towards the hospital bill. She told me that the hospital had refused to release the baby's body for last rites until the entire bill had been cleared.
I told her I would share the message with the KenIndian School Mothers WhatsApp group I belong to as their families have been here for generations and they belong to various religious organizations, unlike us who are expatriates and know only a handful of people after almost five years in Nairobi.
And so I composed a suitable message and posted it on the group. It took up just a couple of minutes of my time. The response was not long in coming.
A friend of mine, and the mother of two children herself, said that as the family happened to be a Sikh one,( I had mentioned this in my message), she knew the very people who might be in a position to offer some aid. She urgently asked for the details, including the name of the family and the hospital the baby was in. A quick call to my friend ensured that she sent me the original WhatsApp appeal, posted by the parents, which had all the relevant details.I sent this onto my friend, who, in turn, sent it to her husband, who sent it to his friend, who sent it to his relative, who is the head of the Sikh religious temple (Gurudwara) and had expressed an interest in helping this family. Phew!! To the parents' credit, no where did the appeal say that the tiny body was not being released for non payment. They certainly did not want to coerce people to help by sending them on a guilt trip. Nor were they inclined to bad mouth the hospital, where medical personnel had battled for twelve long days to save their little girl. I truly admired the bereaved couple for this.
We had an update the very next day. The person in charge of the funds of the organization had got in touch with the father and promised him a cheque for almost the ENTIRE amount of the remaining bill.( The parents had managed to collect only around three thousand dollars by then). Last morning, the trustees met and the amount was unanimously cleared, the bill was paid off and today the baby was to come home for her last rites and cremation.
I have not met the family. I do not know them, nor do my friend and her husband. But quick action on their part on purely humanitarian grounds, aided by the super technology that is WhatsApp, ensured that the appeal reached the right ears at the right time. The friend who had originally roped me in, told me yesterday that the father had done the rounds of all religious organizations but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears and had never reached the people in charge, the movers of funds...
I am so glad that the baby will now be laid to rest. God takes away at times, but He gives too. Had it not been for His miracle through WhatsApp, a little body would still be languishing in a cold mortuary, breaking a mother's heart into pieces every time she thought of her baby, which knowing any mother, would be ALL the time...
May the little one's soul rest in peace and may her parents find solace in the fact that humanity still exists in this world.
Her friend and neighbour had delivered a baby girl prematurely and after twelve days of battling for life in an incubator, the little angel had finally succumbed to death. Her parents' appeal said that along with a few cherished memories, their baby had left behind a huge hospital bill which amounted to around seventeen thousand American dollars or eleven and a half lakh Indian rupees. They were appealing to all and sundry to donate money which would help them to pay off the bill as the little one had no insurance cover and the parents are not well off enough to have that kind of money handy.
Since my friend is well aware of my penchant for helping by leaping into any and every situation that demands it, even one in which angels may fear to tread, (I inherited this characteristic from my Mom), she called me up to apprise me of the situation and asked me if I would know of any organizations which would be willing to donate some amount of money towards the hospital bill. She told me that the hospital had refused to release the baby's body for last rites until the entire bill had been cleared.
I told her I would share the message with the KenIndian School Mothers WhatsApp group I belong to as their families have been here for generations and they belong to various religious organizations, unlike us who are expatriates and know only a handful of people after almost five years in Nairobi.
And so I composed a suitable message and posted it on the group. It took up just a couple of minutes of my time. The response was not long in coming.
A friend of mine, and the mother of two children herself, said that as the family happened to be a Sikh one,( I had mentioned this in my message), she knew the very people who might be in a position to offer some aid. She urgently asked for the details, including the name of the family and the hospital the baby was in. A quick call to my friend ensured that she sent me the original WhatsApp appeal, posted by the parents, which had all the relevant details.I sent this onto my friend, who, in turn, sent it to her husband, who sent it to his friend, who sent it to his relative, who is the head of the Sikh religious temple (Gurudwara) and had expressed an interest in helping this family. Phew!! To the parents' credit, no where did the appeal say that the tiny body was not being released for non payment. They certainly did not want to coerce people to help by sending them on a guilt trip. Nor were they inclined to bad mouth the hospital, where medical personnel had battled for twelve long days to save their little girl. I truly admired the bereaved couple for this.
We had an update the very next day. The person in charge of the funds of the organization had got in touch with the father and promised him a cheque for almost the ENTIRE amount of the remaining bill.( The parents had managed to collect only around three thousand dollars by then). Last morning, the trustees met and the amount was unanimously cleared, the bill was paid off and today the baby was to come home for her last rites and cremation.
I have not met the family. I do not know them, nor do my friend and her husband. But quick action on their part on purely humanitarian grounds, aided by the super technology that is WhatsApp, ensured that the appeal reached the right ears at the right time. The friend who had originally roped me in, told me yesterday that the father had done the rounds of all religious organizations but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears and had never reached the people in charge, the movers of funds...
I am so glad that the baby will now be laid to rest. God takes away at times, but He gives too. Had it not been for His miracle through WhatsApp, a little body would still be languishing in a cold mortuary, breaking a mother's heart into pieces every time she thought of her baby, which knowing any mother, would be ALL the time...
May the little one's soul rest in peace and may her parents find solace in the fact that humanity still exists in this world.
God knew things would be easier, so he helped develop technology! May the baby's soul rest in peace!
ReplyDeleteGod knew things would be easier, so he helped develop technology! May the baby's soul rest in peace!
ReplyDeleteMay the baby's soul Rest In Peace
ReplyDelete