Intel Corporation and One Million Lights work with Pallium India to provide light for palliative care in India.
As reported by Saji G.:
Let me tell you the story of Suni – a woman whose compassion and dedication to the cause palliative care is an encouragement and a humbling experience. She is one of the recipients of the solar light, for her children.
Suni is a mother of three school going children and the sole caregiver to husband, Christudas, who is diagnosed to have Motor Neuron Disease and Pancreatitis. He was fish monger, the sole breadwinner in his family.
When we started seeing him in 2007, Christudas could walk with the help of a walker. Over the past 4 years his condition deteriorated and now completely bed bound and needs assistance to perform activities of daily living. Due to his illness, Christudas is unable to work and this adds to their financial burdens. They have huge debts-bank loans and individual borrowings taken to meet daily needs. They have debts of 5lakhs (INR). Suni and her children are being physically and mentally harassed by the money lenders. They live on the mercies of their neighbours and friends.
They live in a house with broken doors and windows. Suni tearfully says she lives in constant fear about the safety of her children (two girls and one boy). There is a statutory power cut every day for 1 hour and that too when the children are about to sit in for studying at home. With the light from One Million Lights, they feel great! There is no one to help her with care-giving and household chores, and she doesn’t have steady job.
Despite her miseries, Suni finds time to help other patients and their family members who are in similar sufferings. She is one of our most dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers. She assists our medical team in our homecare program in her community and assists in providing nursing care to the patients.
With the support of kindhearted people like yourself, they are recipients of our Food kit program- a program where food provisions are made available for the patient and family every month. Members associated with Pallium India raised about 20,000/-(INR), but this amounts to only a small portion of her debts. Also, the children are receiving financial support for their education.
Suni was delighted to receive the lamp for her children. Your kind gesture shall remain in their hearts as a ray of hope that life will become brighter for them someday.
These lights were donated by employees of Intel in Santa Clara, CA. Thank you for your generous sponsorhip.
