Cancer is a deadliest disease that spares none. People call it as curse, as the innocent kids are also not spared from this disease. In India many of the NGO's, hospitals and government organizations have come up with free medication and treatment. People below poverty line have access to free treatments. However, to these people who live in rural areas, main source for survival is farming, live-stock and other daily wage work. For this reason they will not be able to move or come to a completely different city for treatment. Treatment for cancer is not a day’s or week’s process. For complete recovery one has to go through 6 to 12 months of treatment. http://www.accesslife.org/
Though the treatment is free one cannot afford or find work for those period of time, for survival. People from different part of the country come to big cities for their child's treatment but they fail to cope up with expenses apart from treatment for basics needs like food and shelter. On the other hand they lose their current work and will not be able to provide for the rest of the family.
Access life, an NGO in Mumbai, has come up with an initiative to provide temporary home for the parents or care takers of the child undergoing the treatment for cancer. The child who is undergoing cancer treatment will definitely require good nourishment. Access life, provides food grains and nutritional supplements required for the children, as well as promote community cooking facilities at the housing accommodation. Children undergoing treatment have to maintain hygiene, therefore using public transport to go to the hospitals is out of equation, otherwise risk infection that can hamper with the progress in recovery. Access life has four donated vehicles to facilitate free transportation for chemotherapy treatment/ surgery and follow-ups.
Children will need emotional and physical support, Access life has come with the facilitate healing and equip the children and their families with practical ways to deal with the distress created by the disease. This keeps the children engaged with educational sessions so that they don’t miss out on school, and they also teach parents new skills that could be a source of livelihood when they return to their respective hometowns after their child’s long treatment. And they also conduct sessions like Yoga, counselling sessions, to storytelling, craft, and recreational activities.
Every year Access life come with the handmade diyas and rakhis. During the free hour parents with some guidance make rakhis and sell it and make little money out of it. Helping hand is better than a praying one. We cannot be a major part of it but what we can is buy these items from them and make small contribution to those brave kids to fight the battle against the cancer and tell #dishoomtocancer.
