We reached the Bajura district headquarter of health department in Martodi after an hour of local hike. On a few yards walk from the hillside end of the hospital towards the DHO's office, we couldn't ignore this little child eating a stale roti ( 7 din ko sukeko Kodoko roti) seasoned with a few pepper's seeds and salt. One of his eyes was closed, he had his left hip fractured and he had puss coming out of his infected wounds. His mom seemed too old to look like that in her early age. Her watery eyes were expecting us to be the god to save her son but we figured we should get permission from the respective team to get into the picture.
My friend Shin ( a Chinese medicine practioner) seemed to be loosing patience like me while waiting outside the office and looking at the plight of the kid. After a short discussion, we decided to take the risk to find out what's going on. I went over to secretly speak with the office care taker. He told me that the boy belonged to a Dalit family, the father had passed away when he was born and were doing badly with two little sisters. They all begged for they had no works. I cross-checked the information with a few more hospital staffs and conveyed this message to Shin. We both decided to help the kid. However, the DHO, who was a young man restricted us from helping the kid. Later in the evening, when Shin, our porter and I hiked back to the town, we decided to take the risk and help the kid anyway. With what we can afford. We are going to give him medicines, a few hundred rupees for them to buy some rice, the clothes Niru didi (my cousin) had brought dearly from states (won't probably fit the kid but his sisters and mom would be happy to have) and an elephant toy Shin had brought from states. While I take rest for the day today, I hope to walk up to that boy early in the morning tomorrow to give him what we can.