“I live in Sahakar Nagar migrant settlement. I hail from Assam. I work as a domestic worker and my husband as a waste picker. I have a five-year-old son. When my husband could not go to work for one month due to fever, I took him to a nearby private hospital. There he was diagnosed with blood cancer. My world came crashing down. A private hospital said expenses of treatment may go well beyond Rs.10 lacs. I was devastated thinking about how I would arrange the money for treatment. That is when I shared my situation with volunteers of Indian Social Institute who come often to our settlement. They consoled me and took my husband to the government cancer specialist hospital. He was admitted and treatment started soon at much less expense. ISI provided financial help and a one-month dry ration for our family. After 3 sessions of chemotherapy my husband is much better and started his waste picking work again.”

Mr. Sadiq added, “I feel very healthy now and am very happy that I could go to work again. During six-month of my treatment, I would break down quite often thinking about my future, my wife and son. Volunteers of ISI would come to the hospital to extend mental and emotional support which helped me in believing that I will live a normal life again. My wife and I were without any source of income during my treatment. During this time ISI extended further support, by providing dry ration for one month to sustain ourselves”.

Rosey

Facilitator of Programmes

Labour Migration Unit