Mother helpless to be helpful
The thought of keeping children with mental health problems chained, that also by none other than the mother herself, might seem ghastly.
But the need to feed and keep her two children safe drove one Bogra widow to harden her heart, cast away her motherly yearnings and resort to this measure.
Life has not been easy for Nazma Begum, a resident of Pandarpara village under Gohail union of Shajahanpur upazila.
With no savings and a two-decimal land housing her tin-roofed straw residence as her only asset, the 45 year old had been making ends meet with whatever her husband, Moksed Ali, earned as a farmhand.
She was even able to ensure schooling for her two sons, Nasir, 17, and Shahin, 14, who were perfectly healthy at that time, till tragedy struck when Moksed was diagnosed with blood cancer.
Unable to bear the expenses and with no form of external assistance available, he silently passed away in 2008. Local doctors assume that the boys were left traumatised, leading them to develop bipolar disorder.
Nasir first showed signs of the illness in 2013 when his behaviour became erratic and impulsive; there was inconsistency in his speech and he began wandering off and getting lost.
Shahin too started exhibiting these symptoms around February this year. The boys were treated several times at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital. But their condition reappears when they return home.
Dr Paritosh Kumar Ghosh of the hospital's psychiatry department says the boys require long-term treatment, through counselling and medication.
Money matters make life even harder for Nazma, who has been trying to eke out an existence since her husband's death.
Work as a house help is usually available during the two periods of harvest a year, from April to June and October to December. For the rest of the year she has to rely on charity, which usually comes in during Ramadan, or resort to begging.
Whenever she leaves home the boys need to be chained up so that they do not wander off. Nazma does not forget to feed the boys and help them respond to nature's call but being tied up aggravates their condition.
Toiling all day long does not bring in cash. Payment and charity in the locality comes in the form of one or two meals, meaning some rice and curry.
There were countless times when no fire warmed their earthen stove and they had to pass sleepless nights on empty stomachs. Sometimes all they had were herbs and plants which none give a second glance at and are discarded as weed.
Nazma fulfils all the eligibility criteria for the government's widow allowance, that is Tk 300 per month, and her sons the allowance for persons with disabilities, meaning Tk 350.
But the person who enlists people of the locality for the allowances, the Gohail union chairman of Shajahanpur upazila, claims that he came to know of Nazma's dire situation only recently.
In April, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdur Rahman provided Nazma with Tk 3,000 and a saree and the following month, as per his recommendation, the district administration gave her another Tk 3,000.
Such assistance gives Nazma hope of building a sustainable livelihood so as to cure her sons. Her desire is that they can grow up, educate themselves and change her fortunes. The amounts may not seem to be much, but it's a start to make a difference.
Comments