By Fariha Nadir | Project Leader
55 years old Kausar, looks older than her years; her hunched back and wrinkled face speak volumes of hardships endured.Widowed at a young age, she has been working as a household maid 6 days a week and taking care of her own house on the only day she gets off from work.Supporting 2 daughters, she has taken pride in taking care of her children and her house herself. Her only son left with his family to a bigger city in search of better opportunities. Come illness or bad weather, the hard working Kausar is perpetually at work.
This took a toll on her health and she developed various ailments. To save money, she resorted to Hakeemi medications which offered her a quick fix. While those meds kept her on her feet, in the long run she started developing side effects which could not be corrected, even with more of those meds.
One of the side effects was the development of bilateral cataract. Daytime and brightly lit environments became difficult to work or even crossing the road became dangerous. She once tried to seek treatment at a local hospital, about two years ago before LRBT Chiniot became operational, but on hearing the cost involved, she decided that it was not for her and continued to work despite her condition. She prayed that her vision survives just long enough that she could marry off her daughters and see them settled in their new homes.
Once she was almost run over by a rickshaw and reached her employer’s house bruised. The lady of the house tended to her injuries and then proceeded to bring her straight to LRBT Chiniot.
During Zakat assessment, she broke down thinking that she might get refused treatment due to her poverty and be disgraced. Tearfully she narrated her story to the patient counselor, who did his best to alleviate her concerns, gave her due respect and reassured of a state-of-the-art treatment without any cost to her. It was in much more relaxed state that she entered the operation theatre. For the first time in years she was able to walk by herself without fear of bumping into something or someone!
Ecstatic, she was operated upon on her other eye the very next month and is now back at work with greater enthusiasm and dedication.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
