This is my 9 years old student Meerab who has to take care of her four younger siblings, she cooks food, gives them shower, cleans house, washes clothes and comes to school every day.
Her youngest sister is ½ year old and her mother is expecting another child in a few days she is giving birth to so many daughters because she wants to have another son but because her husband is a drug addicted and does not earn much therefor she has to work also to feed her children and Meerab who is the eldest among sisters has to do household along with coming to school for her studies with her younger sisters
As per Government’s instructions we sent our students on summer vacation in May and on last day of her school when she went home she was heating up lunch for her siblings when fire caught her clothes, parents go for work, younger sisters are too young to help so until neighbors came for help, her belly, one arm and back was burnt so bad.
Her parents kept her inside a room for a month where there was no light, no fan and no treatment they thought now she is useless therefor it is better for her to die or she will be burden for family all life, I could not come to know about it because she was not coming to school because of summer vacation but when last week someone told me and I went to her home I saw, blood and puss was coming out of her wounds, she was lying down completely silent and she was stinking so bad and her skin color was turned off white because of continues loss of blood, she very skinny, no proper treatment and very bad behavior by her parents, she told me’’ the pain was unbearable but when I would cry because of pain in night my father would rebuke me and would say be silent let us sleep so I learnt to bear my pain in silence which would make me faint after every half and hour’’
I requested her parents immediately to allow me to bring her to a hospital but they did not allow, I sent my mother but they refused, I sent some respectable people from the village but they denied then I went with my team and told them that they are killing their daughter and this is a case of murder so I will call the police if they will not let me bring her to a doctor after three days’ effort I was able to bring her to Lahore after two hours’ drive on each side from my city because there is no burn center in my own city but I did not have any money at home, so I went to a street where many women were sitting outside their homes I asked them how much money do you have? They lent me whatever they had altogether it was equal to $500 we left for Lahore but it was a big storm in Lahore that day several people died many were injured it was raining so fast and I and my sister were driving and running from one hospital to another unfortunately three big hospital denied to take her because she was almost died and no one wanted to take the responsibility, for four days I went from one hospital to another but no one took her, I was looking at her, there was no hope in her eyes she would get faint many times in the van I was crying for her I was finding no hope either but I thought I will not give up I will check each and every hospital but I will not let her die
Then Malee kenworthy our development director spread the news on social media Farah ambassador(NCWUS) UN heard her story she used her links and contacted to a very famous doctor in Lahore who finally admitted her, Now she is getting treatment it will take her a month to be in hospital, her left arm which was stuck with her belly after getting burn, is now separated and will be fine soon, three units of blood were given to her immediately, we are giving her very good diet, like juices, meat, fruits and eggs etc so she can make more blood, her life is now out of danger, she is the most brave girl in the world, she wants to be a doctor and she does not want this happen to any other child what has happened to her. Her pain is beyond imagination, she is in hospital since four weeks but her father has not visited her even once, her mother visited twice for a few minutes and then went back home.
We will make her all wounds healed my all means but the pain what her parents’ behavior has given her I do not know if this will ever be able to healed, I do not know when our people will understand that if they have a daughter it does not mean she does not feel the pain.