|
|
|
|
|
|
From Child's Death, Mom Helps 6,000 Kids
by Arwa Damon
January 09 |
|
|
 |
Nia's chest shakes with every breath, her frail body twisting on the threadbare mattress. The heat inside her room is almost suffocating. Her mother fans her and wipes away a thin film of sweat from the girl's forehead.
"Sometimes at night, I ask myself: If I die, who will take care of her?" Nia's mother, Rita Zahara, says.
She wipes away tears as she speaks. Her eyes are permanently bloodshot, her face etched with exhaustion.
Nia has cerebral palsy in Indonesia, where help for disabled children is far behind the times. All the girl knows of the world is the peeling ceiling and the sliver of life that she can be seen through her door. She is the eldest of five children. Her siblings are all healthy. The family barely has enough money to survive.
Rita has carried her daughter since she was born, easily lifting Nia's shrunken and delicate body.
"All I wish is that she would walk like everybody else, but it's not possible," the mother says, the tears continuing to slowly roll down her face.
Introduce: Natalie Tjahja, the founder of the Maria Monique Foundation which tries to help the dreams of a distressed family come true. When she first met Nia's mother, the girl's mom simply asked for a stroller so her little girl could see more of the world than what is in her room.
Twice Maria Monique stopped breathing, but came back, astonishing doctors. Yet she eventually succumbed to her illness in 2006. One hundred days after her death, as Tjahja was pouring rose petals into a river as in Indonesian tradition, she says her daughter came back again with a message.
"Maria Monique, she whispered in my heart. She said, 'Mom try to find many many children to give happiness,' " Tjahja recalls. "She is like my guidance angel."
She began with just $50 to fulfill her daughter's wish. The foundation has since grown into something much bigger. To date the Maria Monique Foundation has helped over 6,000 children -- from providing prosthetics and wheelchairs to trips to the mall to coloring books.
Do you have an inspirational story that you would like to share with the YourCause.com team? Write us at info@yourcause.com.
|
| The content published and opinions expressed at YourCause.com does not necessarily represent a statement or position by any employee of YourCause, LLC. All content is intended to inform and educate readers on a variety of events, deemed newsworthy, taking place throughout our world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
