Appeal for funds for a surgery

Received this appeal from a friend:
ubject: [Iyer123] Kerala Iyers Trust - Help Reqd: Medical Treatment - Vijaya Ramesh, Tvm
Reply-To: Ramaprasad Subramaniam <ramsap@yahoo.com>

 

Dear Friends,

Kerala Iyers Trust (KIT) has received an appeal requesting support for medical treatment of Smt.Vijaya Ramesh, 46, of Trivandrum.KIT Volunteer, S Narayanaswami, visited the family and provided us with a field visit report and his recommendations.

Quick Summary:

Sri. Ramesh (48) is a taxi driver who earns just enough to feed his family and one can imagine how difficult it is nowadays to take care of a four-member family. He has his wife Smt. Vijaya and 2 kids - studying in 11th and 2nd standard. Like any other parents, this couple also has pinned a lot of hopes on their kids and they also know that ensuring a secure and bright future for their children depends solely on giving them education to the maximum extent possible.

Both Ramesh and Vijaya toil for long hours without any reluctance. Smt Vijaya started working as a home assistant / part time cook in a few Brahmin households in the city. Mr. Ramesh goes on trip calls as and when it comes and Smt. Vijaya does her routine rounds every day in the morning. The family lives in a small house at Palkulangara. It is a rented house.

But, Smt. Vijaya had a neck problem in March 2012. Though it was initially dismissed as strain, it kept aggrevating and later an MRI scan was done and it was found that there is a grave problem in the vein adjacent to the spinal cord and the doctor opined that she should undergo an emergency surgery which is essential to save her from permanent disability. The initial procedure was done with the support of friends and family members. Unfortunately by the time it was done Smt. Vijaya's left leg had got paralyzed due to the impact of the problem.

This came to KIT's attention and after due diligence, with all your support - KIT provided funds for her treatment by paying Rs.75000 in April 2012.

Come December 2012...

The family's relief was short-lived. Vijaya started having pain again and was diagnosed to be very close to partial paralysis. The family which was slowly limping back to normalcy is again under pressure now.

In December 2012, due to acute pain, Vijaya was admitted to the hospital again. After thorough check up, doctors reported that she's suffering from cervical disectomy (Doctor Letter is with KIT records) and for that one more corrective surgery is a must, that too to be done at the earliest. Specialist Doctors reported that Vijaya's case is very unfortunate as she's suffering from cervical disectomy, weakening of bones. But it can be set right with a sophisticated surgery for which, it costs around 1.5 lakhs.

It's really very ill-timed and unbearable for Vijaya's family. While the family is slowly returning to normal life, this second treatment course cannot be even imagined by them. It's really a pathetic situation for them. All their known sources of support have already been channelized for the 1st phase. Now, the family is really shaken and is left isolated due to the present situation.

Vijaya has been advised to go in for another surgery which, it is hoped, will bring her back to an active life.

===========================================

What KIT found:

Sri Chitra Thirunal hospital offers the same surgery at about 75% rate (disc is costly) of which the private hospital estimated, but the other expenses have to be borne by the family. Here SCT will consider the patients on a priority basis, it is impossible to get the date of surgery in short time. Moreover the doctor who is handing her case presently has offered to do the surgery without his fee. This has decided them in favour of continuing the treatment at the private hospital itself.

Vijaya is fully aware of the uncertainties of life. But her misfortunes have made her realize that there is one certain thing she can bank on: the milk of human kindness. Helping hands are indeed the silver lining in her dark clouds. When she fell ill the first time, many had come forward to help her. With the relapse she suffered, Vijaya is being forced to appeal to those kind hearts once again.

KIT found this case a very genuine & deserving one and decided to support part of Smt.Vijaya Ramesh's treatment. Accordingly, Rs.1 Lakh is to be raised to support this case.

============================================

How to send your contributions:

You may please send in your contribution either as a cheque or as a direct electronic bank transfer. As you know, Kerala Iyers Trust does NOT spend any of your contributions towards its expenses or any other costs. Every single paisa will go to the beneficiary.

Members interested in supporting this family may send in their contributions to:

a) Electronic Bank Transfer maybe done in favour of:

Contributions from WITHIN India:

Account Name Kerala Iyers Trust
Account No 24140100004015
Bank Name BANK OF BARODA
Branch POWAI, MUMBAI
MICR Code 400012091
Account Type SAVINGS ACCOUNT

IFSC Code : BARB0POWBOM

BARB stands for Bank of Baroda - then there is 0 (zero) POWBOM stands for Powai, Bombay

Contributions from Overseas in Foreign Currency ONLY:

Account Name Kerala Iyers Trust
Account No 24140100007073
Bank Name BANK OF BARODA
Branch POWAI, MUMBAI
SWIFT Code BARBIN BBSAK

MICR Code 400012005
Account Type SAVINGS ACCOUNT
IFSC Code : BARB 0POWBOM

BARB stands for Bank of Baroda - then there is 0 (zero) POWBOM stands for Powai, Bombay

BSR code : 0202414

b) DD / Cheques to be in favour of "Kerala Iyers Trust" (Please note the NEW ADDRESS in Bangalore)

Kerala Iyers Trust
C/O.Dr.Kasi Viswanathan,
431, E- Main, 12th Cross, Near National Public School.
2nd Phase, Ideal Homes, Rajarajeswary Nagar,
Bangalore - 560098

Tel # +91 93248 03392

It would be great if you could drop us a line so that we could track with the bank.

Please note that you will get Tax benefit in India for the contributions you make to the Kerala Iyers Trust. If you want a receipt to be sent to you for this purpose, please do let us know your postal address too.

Thanks n' regards

Ramaprasad Subramaniam, for KIT

Funds required for a five year old boy to help him regain his vision

A request for funds to help a five year old boy regain his vision through treatment at Kerala's Sreedhareeyam:

Dear Kiran,

As spoken to you, here are the details of the case:
Name: Trushal Shailesh Gore (age 5 years)
Resident of: Goregaon West, Mumbai
Issue: Premature baby born at eight months. After delivery on 7th day he got some severe dehydration and convulsions. Subsequently has defective vision in both eyes. The diagnosis is Optic Atrophy. His father has been taking him to Kerala at Sreedhareeyam for treatment twice a year - once in June and second in Nov.
Expense: Their total expense annually is Rs. 75,000 towards the hospital fees and they were hoping if someone could contribute towards it. These are hospital fees and the cheques can be drawn in the hospital's name. The travel & stay expenses the family will manage. The cheque could be in this name: Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital And Research Centre
I have verified the case. Do let me know if he can be helped. Thanks a ton!

Regards
Priyanka

Please do mail us at indiahelps@gmail.com if you would like to help Trushal.

Appeal to raise funds for Ummeed

I received this appeal from noted journalist and columnist Dilip
D'Souza. If you do decide to contribute, please do let Dilip know at
@DeathEndsFun on twitter. Thank you.


January 3 2013

Dear Kiran,

I'm part of a fundraising effort for an organization called Ummeed.
I'm doing this because I have a personal interest in this: our
daughter Surabhi (now nearly 9) is dyslexic and Ummeed has been a
great help to us in diagnosis, treatment and advice. While I'm
naturally anxious about how she will cope, Ummeed is the reason I'm
confident that she will.

And this is why I think Ummeed's work is important. And yet they reach
only a fraction of all the children in Bombay with developmental
disabilities: the need, as ever, outstrips the capacity to serve it.
And this is why I signed up to do this fundraiser for Ummeed.

Admittedly I'm no good at this. I've never done it before. I mean,
I've never run/walked/biked/cartwheeled for a cause before, I've never
asked for pledges/donations like this before, and I've never walked
55km on a beach in one day before. (About 45 km one day through the
forests of Madagascar, but that's a story for another day).

But I'm doing all that now. With some 20-25 others, I'm going to walk
up and down the 27km+ length of a Goa beach -- totalling about 55km --
on January 12 2013.

So it's this simple: I need your support to help me complete that
trek. I need your support to help Ummeed in its work. I'd be grateful
for pledges/donations in any amount at all. And if you contribute, I
promise to carry your name on a small label on my person. (I've
stocked up on pins).

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.

cheers,
dilip.

--

PS: Your contribution is tax-deductible. Please make your check out to
Ummeed Child Development Center and mail it to Ummeed, 1-B, 1/62,
Mantri Pride Building, N. M. Joshi Marg, Near Chinchpokli Station
(W), Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 011. And please let me know.

PS #2: This link allows online donations:
http://www.giveindia.org/iGive-wwwgiveindiaorgUmmeedCDC

PS #3: Some details about Ummeed:
It was started by an old friend, Vibha Krishnamurthy, to work with
children with developmental disabilities (which is her
specialization). In the past year Ummeed has provided direct services
to over 1000 families of such children. Their goal has always been to
create best practices, and also work on advocacy, research, and
sharing their knowledge through training.

Some Ummeed highlights of the past year:

* They established a brand new social work team to serve low-income
families, including educating them about the rights of children with
developmental disabilities and taking patient advocacy to another
level.

* They benefited thousands of children indirectly by training staff of
eight organizations to work with children with developmental
disabilities and their families through their Child Development Aide
(CDA) program and Mental Health training program.

* They also ran several shorter training programs for schools and NGOs
working with children at risk for disabilities.

However, there are still so many children and families with little or
no access to care. Ummeed remains committed to reaching out to them in
different ways.