Baby with an uncertain fate

Bablu and Sunita's first baby, Monika, is undergoing urgent surgery today. Monika is only two months old and due to a malformation of the vertebrae, she has a hernia of the spinal cord. For her to stay alive, she must undergo urgent surgery allow the spinal fluid to drain.

Because of the urgency of the case, we agreed to pay for the operation and send her to hospital immediately. She is undergoing surgery today at Ram Krishna Mission hospital in Vrindavan. We are all praying that it goes well.

Monika's father is a cleaner at SMS and we want to support him through this heartbreaking time for him and his wife, but we are a charity, and in order to help others, we rely on your support.

The operation and medicines that baby Monika will need are not too expensive, only US$170. Surgeons do not know if they can save her, but they are willing to try. Please join our efforts to give baby Monika a chance to live.

Thank you

Thank you to Suresh & Eana from UK who have pledged to donate the balance for Savita's operation. We will now contact Savita's parents and let them know the good news.

OPERATION SUCCESSFUL!

For all the sponsors of Kamlesh,
We are pleased to inform you that her surgery has been successful! We are all thrilled because she was in a very weak condition before the surgery. She will need to remain in hospital for another two weeks. We will let you know how she is progressing.

Thank you

A big thankyou to our to our two next sponsors.

Bharat and his family donated $500.

And Gopiswari, from USA, donated $25.

This leaves us with only $664 to collect for little Savitri's operation.

Thank you

Thank you to the following sponsors who are helping us get closer to the target helping Savita.

Kristoff Nowodworski, Canada, $51
Indrid Chiavacci, USA, $25
Vasant Ganatra, USA, $25
Jodyne Speyer, USA, $25

We now have a US $1189 to collect for her. Please help. We need donations of any amount, whatever you can spare. Together we can help her, alone we can do nothing.

URGENT operation for a little girl

Pictured is Savita and her father. Savita has a cancerous tumour in her leg, you can see from the photo that it is quite large. She walks slowly, limping with pain and she cannot go to school because she can't sit down for too long. Her father is employed in a shop and earns very little and her mother is a housewife. She is one of four children. Her parents want to get treatment for her but they have little money. They have tried everything and are presently seeing a faith healer while they are waiting for us to get the money to send her to hospital.

This case is urgent because tests show that the cancer has not yet reached the bone, but any day it could enter the bone and his will drastically reduce her life expectancy. Doctors say that perhaps the cancer has already spread and maybe she wont live too many more years, but we want to give her the best chance possible. She is a sweet girl who is suffering great pain at a very early stage of life, please help us to get this operation for her as soon as possible.

We have already received some donations, but we still have a long way to go, we need to quickly raise US $1315 for her. Please send your donations urgently to rupa@fflvrindavan.org .

First donors for Savita

Thank you to the following donors, who donated money for Kamlesh after we had already reached the target and who have kindly agreed to transfer their donations to Savita, who also needs an urgent operation (see post above)

Nagapatni, USA, $25
Natalie Caplan, USA, $10
Tirtharti and Deena, USA, $50
Maharsi and Vrajevari, France, $45
Katherine Ford $100

Update on Kamlesh

We recently met with Kamlesh's brother in law who told us that Kamlesh
has been taken to the hospital. She is due to have open heart surgery in the next few days. Kamlesh's family were really anxious to get her treated quickly because she has lost almost a year of her life being ill. Please join Kamlesh's family and the team at FFLV in prayer that everything goes well and that she will have a speedy recovery.

Savita, 11 years old and Dying of Cancer.

Savita lives in a village that is quite remote. A Food for Life staff member discovered her when they went to visit the village. Her family had already taken her to hospital but could not afford the treatment, so nothing was being done.

As this is a very serious case, we have taken her to several doctors to get the best advice possible. The best treatment we can find for her is in Ganga Ram hospital in Delhi. The prognosis is not good and doctors say that if we do nothing she will die in less than 6 months. If we have her treated, she will live for 2-4 years, and she will not suffer the terrible pain that she will face if nothing is done.

Savita is already feeling bad pain in her leg, because the cancer is pressing on the sciatic nerve. We need to send her to the hospital quickly in order to slow down the spread of cancer.

It is another expensive operation but we have faith that after the outstanding response to the case of Kamlesh, blog readers will also help this little girl. It will cost US$1545 to cut out the 10 cm tumor, and give Chemio therapy.

I will post a photo shortly. We are putting the appeal up even without the photo because need to get Savita to hospital as soon as possible, she does not have long to live and every day that passes means more pain and a worse prognosis for her. Please help her to enjoy the last few years of her short life. Pledge your donation to rupa@fflvrindavan.org .

Mission complete, Thank you kind blog viewers!

Thank you to all those who made a donation to save Kamlesh. Thank you especially to Danielle Marcos who donated the last $63 so that we can now move on to the next urgent case.

For those people who do not see their names appearing on this thank you list, my secretary will contact you to ask whether you can transfer your donation to Savita, who is an 11 year old girl who has a giant tumor growing on her upper leg and needs URGENT surgery. (see next post)

SPECIAL REPORT, Putrid Rivers Of Sludge

Delhi's bureaucrats bicker over cholera and the role of city drains and state sewers.
If anybody needed a reminder of how crippling bureaucracy can be, consider the campaign to clean up the sacred Yamuna River in Delhi. The river oozes through town like a putrid ribbon of black sludge. Its level of fecal bacteria is 10,000 times higher than what's deemed safe for bathing. After a half-billion-dollar, 15-year program to build 17 sewage treatment plants, raw sewage still spills into the river at the rate of 3.6 billion liters a day.

India scores 120 on the green index and especially poorly in sanitation.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/143694

Appeal Response

A big thank you to the following people who responded to our appeal to save Kamlesh:
David Homan, USA, $20
Terra family, Terra Cottage Ceramics, USA, $25
Douglas Mackellar, USA, $151
Israel Segal, USA, $25
Gopika Awatramani and Ronnie, Canada, $20
Evolution in DesignZ, Canada, $20
Madhavi Patel, USA, $25
Manish Ballav, USA, $201
David Marsan, USA, $5
Arian Cole, UK, $50
Kathleen Beaton, USA, $25
Andre Paolinelli, UK, $10
Mr Chatterjee, indian-jewellery.com, India, $50

NOW we have only $63 remaining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thank you all for your contributions,

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Appeal sent out

Thank you to Leonard Zimikus from USA who sent $100 for Kamlesh. Also, a big thanks to Nimai Pandit, secretary of ISKCON Barcelona, who was the first to respond to the recent mail out asking all friends and supporters of FFLV to contribute $5 so that we can help Kamlesh.

If you are not on Rupa's mailing list and would like to be, please email secretary@fflvrindavan.org

Correction

Kamilis' name should be spelt Kamlesh, but, despite the mistake in spelling, there is no mistake that this woman is desperately in need of help. Yesterday her family was begging us to take her to hospital because she is feeling even weaker than before. The family have taken her to a hospital in Jaipur where they could get immediate admission because they are very worried about her.

We have informed them of how much money we have collected to date and that we still hope to collect some more for them. They are contributing what they can as they really care for her, but it is very important that there is enough money for all the medicines and post operative care, and the family is really very poor. Please help us get a little more money to help ensure she will get all the treatment she needs.

Another kind sponsor has arrived

Danielle Marcos has come forward with US$100 for Kamilis, so we are down to US$795 needed for this lifesaving heart surgery. Thanks Danielle, we appreciate your support.

Calling all readers of this blog....

WE NEED YOU! KAMILIS NEEDS YOU! Every day that goes by Kamilis is getting weaker and weaker. When she breathes there is a terrible rasping sound as she struggles for breath. She can sit up to take food and water but can hardly eat as her condition also makes it difficult for her to digest food. She is getting thinner by the day and already weighs less than 40kg. If the heart does not work properly, all organs are affected and she is getting weaker by the day. She still has a chance to recover but her chances of survival are getting less and less as the days go on. US$895 is still needed for her heart surgery. Pledge your support by emailing rupa@fflvrindavan.org

For our kind sponsors....

Many thanks to Bharat and Asha Patel from San Diego, who have kindly sent US$501 for Kamilis' operation. This leaves us with US$895 needed for her operation, so we are well past the half way mark to getting the treatment that she desperately needs just to breathe.

Thankyou and

To Mr and Mrs SK Sharma and family from UK who have donated US$603 for Kamilis. This is really a big help that you and your family has given towards her cause. Only $1396 is left, before we can get this surgery for her.

For the next sponsor of Kamilis

Thanks to Krsna Sona who has donated US$201 for Kamilis' heart surgery. We are still waiting on $1999 so that this lady can be rescued from her pitiful condition. If you can possibly lend a hand or spread the word about this blog, please do so.

First donation arrives...

Sara Berggren from Sweden has sent US$300 for Kamilis, so we have made a start towards getting help for this poor lady. Thanks Sara.