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About 20% of all childhood cancer cases in the world are from India, which is 75,000 every single year. Majority of the cases have a 75-80% survival rate, but many fail to get access to treatment, majorly due to financial constraints.
“Though there are public hospitals to treat a cancer-ridden child, the specialised hospitals are not enough to cater to the enormous number of cases. Thus parents rely on private hospitals where the cost of the treatment is sometimes beyond their means. We at Aroh ensure no child is sent back due to the lack of resources. Be it medical cost, food, stay or transportation to reach the hospital.”- Bindu, founder of Aroh
Before founding Aroh in May 2013, Bindu was working with Make A Wish foundation. She used to interact with a lot of terminally ill children. It was shocking to see that 80-85% of them were suffering from cancer. Digging into the national figures, Bindu was moved and founded Aroh. Bindu is on a mission to make sure every child diagnosed with cancer gets the right treatment when they need it.
“There are several instances that slowly paved my way towards Aroh but if you ask me a few instances, it would be the story of 3 orphan siblings and the death of a child whose wish we fulfilled…”
“...Unfortunately, the child succumbed to cancer and the saddest part was their parents didn’t even have money to take him back home. There was another incident where I saw a child with blood cancer and her only attendants were her two siblings, they were all orphans and their orphanage left them to fend for themselves only to come by later to collect the child’s body. There is only one common link that I found in all of these stories- the lack of financial aid.”
Sometimes, a lack of a mere Rs.500 costs children's life
Through Aroh, Bindu wants to bridge the gap between the attainable survival rate and financial aid available out there but not accessible. Bindu has seen that the lack of a mere Rs.500 to get to the hospital in time has been the reason for a child to remain untreated. Bindu and her team offer medicines, free monthly rations, hospital food, and psychological counselling for the caregivers. In the face of devastating grief, Aroh volunteers help parents navigate the unimaginable loss of their child.
10 years,over twenty thousand children impacted
Bindu works with 23 social workers across India who further assist patients in 60+ cancer speciality hospitals. In the last 10 years, they have helped more than 15-20 thousand children with cancer. Bindu and her team of social workers work tirelessly to help each child who seeks cancer-related support.“Once a parent asked me ‘Why should I trust you? What if you ask me for money for her treatment later on? I don’t even have 50 rupees to give to you.’ The pain of that family touched me deeply and since then I’ve worked harder towards my mission. ” - Bindu
Bindu has managed to build a great community and network of NGOs, foundations and dharamshalas to manage the cases but struggles during emergencies. Bindu's mission is not just to provide medical aid, it is a pledge to ensure that no child's battle against cancer is hindered by lack of funds, ignorance, or inadequate treatment.“Emergencies happen every single day. It gets challenging to accommodate the child and the parents’ needs. We frantically make numerous calls to get to the solution. The fear of losing the child because of our delay is always at the back of our minds. We want to create an emergency fund so that the child in need gets the proper treatment at the right time.”- Bindu
Help Bindu in her mission to make cancer treatment accessible to all. Click here to donate.
