IN MEMORIAM

Last year, when I was here with fifty-four Rotarians and Friends of Rotary from seven countries, one of the teams sent to the village of Nusera to distribute polio vaccine had done a walk-about in the village, following the morning of dispensing vaccine. They and wandered up one alley and turned down another. Eventually, they saw a young boy sitting, hunched over, in a chair, in front of his house. They came to know this was Iqbal, a boy of fourteen, who had been paralyzed since he was four years old, and had basically lived his life sitting. The chair was a wooden frame and was caned with very rough fibers and twisted plastic. The group also learned that Iqbal had sat in the same chair for these last ten years of his life – being carried out to it in the morning by his father before the father went to the fields to farm, and then was brought back into his house at night, and laid on a mat of the floor for sleep. If nobody was nearby when Iqbal needed to relieve himself, he simply did so in the chair and was forced to sit in his own waste until someone returned home to help clean him. Obviously, this situation tugged at the hearts of this small group of Rotarians, and they decided to do something about it.

They were working with Dr. Sachin, and told him they wanted to purchase a wheel chair for Iqbal, as well as a portable camp commode for him. At least he could exist with some dignity. They collected funds for both items and also got Dr. Sachin to agree to find someone who would provide medical care to this boy for one year. The team raised the funds, the items were purchased and brought back by the team members and a few others of us. For further details, check last year’s BLOG: http://rotarydreamteam-india2008.blogspot.com

The reason Linda and I were returning to Nusera was so we could check on Iqbal’s progress, as well as to find out how his little baby brother – Sakil was doing. Last year when we visited the home, Sakil had only just been diagnosed with polio three weeks prior.

We were driven to Nusera by Dr. Randhawa’s personal driver (or should I say pilot!) literally flying over roads and bumps, passing every vehicle in our path. You see the car in which we were riding was an official car, complete with siren and flashing red and blue lights. EVERYONE got out of our way. We were dropped off with Dr. Sachin and Dr. Randhawa in the center of the village and walked the rest of the way to Iqbal’s house. Linda and I were so looking forward to seeing Iqbal in his wheelchair, being pushed around the village. When we arrived at the house, nobody was sitting out in front. Perhaps Iqbal was at school? Two beds were brought out for us to sit on them and we sat for a short while. Dr. Sachin inquired as to Iqbal’s whereabouts. He was informed the little boy had died. I am sure it was difficult for him to tell us. He had arranged for medical care for Iqbal, but had not been informed of his death, a few months previous. Linda and I listened to the news, and it felt as if someone had kicked us both in the stomach. I inquired about Sakil, and the child was brought to me. The doctor checked him and told us it would be another year before he would be ready to receive physiotherapy. After a few very awkward moments, we left the house and walked back to the bus. We were told that once a Muslim person dies, his or her name is not mentioned within the family again. Having said this, however, we needed to know what happened. As we approached the center of the village, the man who had been walking with us (Iqbal’s uncle) told us he had died back in October of respiratory failure. We had learned that Iqbal had muscular dystrophy, and that respiratory difficulties are very common. I could not wait any longer. I asked Dr. Sachin to ask the uncle if, since we had been there last year, and had given the wheelchair and commode to Iqbal, had the boy enjoyed any part of his life. We were told that he had been wheeled throughout the village and that he was able to see his village for the first time, at his own level. He had smiled when another little boy had pushed him around the narrow streets and alleys. It was hard for Linda and me to fight back the tears. We had hoped so very much to see a smile on his face, but that was not to be. We would be forced to remember when Shirley McCaughey and Joanne Larson from last year’s team had removed his scratchy brown plaid shirt, covered with filth, and pulled a now soft tee shirt over his head and to see a tiny smile on his face. I had the memory of lifting him, along with Rotary International Director Kjell-Ake Akesson from Sweden, from his hard-seated wooded chair, into a pliable and malleable web-seated wheelchair, and seeing relief come to his face. We remembered the EMPTY CHAIR – where Iqbal had sat for some ten years, but which exemplified the freedom we had provided to him, if only for a few months.

There is an irony here. Not only had Iqbal died since we visited him in February 2008, but there was another death. Dr. Sachin told us there had not been a new diagnosed case of polio in all of Mewat, since we distributed polio vaccine one year ago. So with death comes life, and hopefully all of the children, now and in the future, in this area, and throughout the world, will live normal, healthy lives because we were able to provide two drops of life-saving vaccine to them. Perhaps we made a difference.