A Volunteer’s Story: Making a Difference with Children’s Healthcare Foundation

The complexity of the human body has intrigued me since childhood. It was quite fascinating to see how every cell, organ and organ system comes together to sustain life, it felt nothing short of a miracle to me. Heart, in particular, has piqued my curiosity so much so that I ended up in a medical college trying to learn more about it every day. Being a complex organ tasked with the crucial task of maintaining the circulation in our body, any disruption in the function of heart can cause significant difficulty in the life of a person. Children born with congenital heart disease (CHD) face such a huge challenge from birth. While it is very unfortunate, this is the sad reality for over 200,000 children born in India every year.

The opportunity to volunteer with Genesis Foundation, a children’s healthcare foundation, dedicated in helping children with CHD has opened my eyes in many ways. In Medical college, the constant hustle to learn as much as you can clinically tend to make you see patients as cases. A case of diabetes. A case of VSD. A case of Pneumonia. The compassionate human touch is always there, but you are focused more on the learning aspect. When I was given an opportunity to visit Amrita Hospital, Kochi, one of Genesis Foundation’s hospital partners, I was curious as to what to expect. Running around in a hospital, stressed out and worried about academics was not new to me, but on that day, I was there as a volunteer meeting with some of the bravest, most resilient little children who had the biggest smile even in the face of adversity. Their stories were the reality of many families in India; helplessness when confronted with diseases like CHD in their child where prompt diagnosis and treatment is necessary within a short time frame. Genesis Foundation came as a shining ray of hope in their life, and to see for real in front of me the impact they made was inspiring.

I met with three children with CHD and their families whose treatment was sponsored by Genesis foundation along with Dr. Krishna Kumar, one of the great paediatric cardiologists of our country and his team. Lakshmi (name changed), a bright 10-year-old girl from rural Karnataka was the first patient I met. Her sweet demeaner and her positive smile despite undergoing an open-heart surgery were a testimony of her strength and resilience. Her little heart has been successfully mended, thanks to the best NGO for child heart surgery in India.

Our next stop was the post-op ICU where I met Tamesh (name changed), recovering well from the surgery to fix a complex condition in his heart. Although he was under sedation, the vital monitors showed his little heart beating strongly against all odds. His mother looked tired but was a strong woman with newly found hope for her child. She told us her story, taking her son to multiple hospitals but was unable to provide treatment either because of lack of expertise to manage her son’s complex CHD or because of the enormous expense to cover for treatment. Until Genesis Foundation intervened, she was hopeless. But now, she looked forward to a future where her son can grow up healthy and happy.

Meeting up with the next patient, little Ganesh (name changed), really brought a smile to my face as he was playing around with a mischievous grin. And I thought to myself, this is the real impact of organisations like Genesis Foundation. The boy would have been deprived of a normal, happy childhood due to his heart condition which in rural areas most often go undiagnosed and in the rare occasions it does get diagnosed, the families have no means of affording the treatment. Although I was only a volunteer, I was proud of being a small part of this wonderful endeavour to save little hearts.

Although it was my first volunteering experience, it felt deeply fulfilling. There are many children all over India silently suffering from CHD looking for a helping hand. This is where contributions, however small, can make a huge difference in the life of these children. By volunteering with Genesis Foundation, I witnessed first-hand the impact of these acts of support and the art of compassionate care, which I aim to imbibe in my professional life as well.

You can visit http://www.genesis-foundation.net to donate, volunteer, or get more information about the Save Little Hearts initiative.