Madhumaya Chepang, a 34-year-old resident of Devitar, a remote village in Raksirang Rural Municipality Ward No. 8, was confined to bed at a tender age of 12.
A complex neural disorder inhibits free movement and refrains her from maintaining certain postures. She can neither raise her head to gaze at the stars above nor can she sit up straight without assistance. For 22 years now, Chepang hasn’t been able to sleep flat on her back.
Inside a humble straw house, she sleeps on a vertical bed supported by an upright wooden beam. Unable to carry out the daily routine of life, she is entirely dependent on her 73-year-old mother Nimaro Chepang.
Somewhere in January of 2020, the Rural Municipality and people’s representative along with health personnel visited the mother-and-daughter duo to hear their plights and provide assistance. During the meeting, the Municipality Chairperson Rajkumar Malla was instantly moved and immediately arranged for a wheelchair to help Chepang.
The visitors, back then, had also promised other aids to the mother and daughter. Chepang is now undergoing online medical treatment thanks to the help of the Patan Institute of Health Sciences. Mother Nimaro couldn’t be happier to see her daughter slowly get better with each passing session. “Now, Madhumaya can walk with a cane on her own. She also doesn’t accept help to go to the latrine,” expressed Nimaro exuberantly.
Thanks to her ongoing treatment and daily home exercise, Madhumaya often stays outdoors. Long denied to move her head, she now likes to gradually tilt her face upwards and blissfully watch the birds as they go soaring high up above the sky.
Watching her daughter play outside — circling the garden on a wheelchair, Nimaro has been both happy and worried at the same time. Happy to see her daughter finally get out of bed, and embracing this new lease of life. And worried that she might stumble over a rock while driving the wheelchair.
“Although Madhumaya’s case is complex and it’s difficult to cure her entirely, she no longer is bed ridden. With the initiative of the Municipality, she has been offered health assistance, which has also uplifted her mood and courage,” said the chairperson Ram Krishna Praja.
While the daily medical treatment via video conferencing has been a boon to 34-year-old Chepang, mother Nimaro is still worried for her daughter and would prefer a more long-term solution to her problems. “My husband died last year, leaving only the two of us to fend for ourselves,” she added. “I am an ailing old woman who doesn’t have long enough to live. I can’t take care of her for long. What will happen to my Madhumaya then?” explained Nimaro.
“Both Nimaro and Madhumaya receive single mother allowance and disability allowance respectively. Likewise, timely medication is offered while health personnel are also deployed to monitor virtual medical treatment,” informed Praja.
As per the agreement reached between the Municipality and Patan Institute of Health Sciences, there is a plan to treat 1,858 people over the age of 60 within the Municipality.
Source : THE RISING NEPAL,
