Chumi is among 19 children in Bangladesh to receive medical treatment funded in part by kids’ mission offerings

*Chumi was unable to move her right arm properly.

When she was 7 years old, she accidentally burned her arm in a mud oven.

The injury was serious. Her parents tried to arrange surgery, but they failed because they did not have the money to pay for it. They nearly lost hope of ever seeing their daughter’s burned arm cured.

But her arm is healed, thanks to kids around the world who raised offerings through the Nazarene Kids Reaching Kids program, of Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI).

Chumi is one of 19 sick or disabled children in Bangladesh who were chosen for medical treatment or surgery under the Sick and Disabled Children Project.

Chumi was chosen to receive funding for surgery and physical therapy after she had enrolled in her local Nazarene child development center (CDC).

“[Before the surgery], I couldn’t move my hand normally. I couldn’t do any work with my burnt hand,” Chumi said.

She could not play with her friends. And people in her community rejected her. They were repelled by the sight of her poorly healed injury.

“People didn’t want to meet my daughter,” said her mother. “We also didn’t bring her with us when we went to a relative’s house to attend any social program or family event, like a religious festival or wedding. But now we can take her to any program.”

When the district SDMI listed her name as a potential child for the treatment from this project, a specialist surgeon performed the procedure. Now she can move her hand much more easily. The doctor gave her some exercises to do regularly, and medicine to take, adding that her recovery will take some time.

Chumi said that people are no longer afraid of her, and she has been accepted in her community and extended family.

Currently she is in the 11th grade. Her dream is to finish her studies and get a good job. She wants to be the light in the darkness of her impoverished family. She expressed gratitude to the Church of the Nazarene and SDMI for their generosity and support for her treatment.

Besides Chumi, six other children received surgeries, including heart surgery and a surgery for cleft lip. All of the 19 chosen children have visited a doctor and many are receiving medicine for diseases, with follow-up doctor visits or treatments included.

“Before starting the treatment of those children we took the signature from their parents/guardians on their consent for their sick child’s treatment,” said a BNM leader. “We also involved local church leaders and local government representatives with this project.”

*Name changed to protect security

This article was written by Bangladesh Nazarene Mission and Gina Pottenger and previously published in the August 2019 edition of Where Worlds Meet.