Up to now PJMT has helped over four hundred patients across Nepal. We have done this by providing partial financing of the surgeries, which are otherwise expensive for the average Nepali. All of the cases we have helped are in the extreme low earning bracket. Perhaps none of the patients we helped could have had their surgery done without our financial help. Up to now most of the patients we have helped are children.

A patient that touched our hearts

Shanta Pariyar, from Chapagaon, Lalitpur, is thirty-six years old.  Her story is a sad one, but could be told many times throughout Nepal.  Shanta is from a scheduled caste, and is therefore considered “untouchable” by many.

Shanta hadn’t been feeling well, so her husband brought her to Kathmandu for a medical check-up.  The diagnosis was that two of the valves in her heart had been damaged and needed to be replaced.   For many in Nepal, the cost of such surgery would be difficult.  For someone like Shanta, it was virtually overwhelming.  She and her husband returned to their village to try to raise the funds for her surgery.  As her husband was a tailor, it was difficult for the two of them and their two daughters to even make ends meet.  Shanta’s husband began the herculean task of raising funds by approaching the slightly wealthier members of their village and explaining their dilemma.  In the end, having approached everyone he could, he had raised only 10% of the cost.  In despair at his inability to care properly for his wife, he took his own life.

This tragic event spurred other members of the community into action, and the formed the “Save Shanta Committee”, which helped to raise additional 50% of the needed funds, and turned the spotlight on Shanta.  They brought Shanta back to Gangalal Heart Centre.  Her case was forwarded to us at PJMT, and we, together with the Heart Centre, provided the additional funding needed to replace the damaged valves.

After her recovery, Shanta returned to her village where she found that not only did this joint effort of PJMT, Ganga Lal Heart Centre and the Save Shanta Committee save her life, but the Committee had raised funds for a sewing machine, which saved her livelihood as well.

While we are thrilled to have contributed to saving Shanta’s life, we cannot express our sadness at the tragic loss of her husband.  We hope that Shanta’s story will touch other patients and their parents, siblings, spouses and friends, and show that a helping hand is close at hand.

When a very small heart seems big

Vivek Dongol, from Janakinagar VDC, Sarlaha, is six years old. His father died in a road accident while participating in a marriage procession. His mother is extremely poor, and supports her family as a dishwasher. At the age of five, Vivek became quite ill, and was brought to Gangalal Heart Centre in Kathmandu for a check-up, with the support of people in his village. He was diagnosed with VSD (a hole in the heart).

Gangalal Heart Centre brought his case to our attention as the cost of surgery was far beyond the financial means of his mother, even with the assistance of his fellow villagers, and he required immediate surgery if he was to live. PJMT was able to provide the necessary funds to help ensure his future.

Vivek has now recovered from his ordeal, and is looking forward to going to school with his friends. When we talked to him during his recovery, we found him to be a very bright, cheerful, and fearless young boy, despite his previous physical limitations. His mother is now extremely happy to be able to see him without fear of losing him, especially after the loss of her husband. For her, Vivek is not only her child, but her one remaining joy of her precious days with her husband. Even though his heart problem almost cost him his life, Vivek wanted to know and understand all that was wrong with him. Maybe in ten years he will have the opportunity to start learning medicine so that he can help other children with the same problem from which he suffered.