Five years back, on 14th November 2011, with the cutting of a ribbon the Thalassemia Day Care Centre at Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health was formally inaugurated. A small gift of children's day, a step in the direction of health, well-being and fulfilment of dreams for the little ones.
With the signing of a bunch of papers, on this 14th November, Sankalp India Foundation decided to give another small gift to the little children. We agreed together with Care Institute of Medical Sciences, Ahmedabad to start yet another four bedded Bone Marrow Transplantation unit exclusively to treat children with non-malignant blood disorders thalassemia in specific.
This one step increased our transplantation bed capacity for thalassemia from the existing 5 beds (4 at People Tree Hospitals, Bangalore and 1 at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai to 9 beds. It is a small yet firm step forward for our little efforts, forwarding our commitment to give life a better chance and offer permanent cure to the children who otherwise would have to endure suffering of a lifetime.
The emotions of excitement about the possibility of cure for many more children come mixed with the nervousness and the sense of responsibility we shoulder to deliver the best that is needed for these children. Fortunately, together with Dr Lawrence Faulkner, the global expert at Bone Marrow Transplantations and our partner organisations, we have been weaving a network which is oriented towards delivering state-of-the-art option of cure with high quality, continuous improvement and cost effectiveness.
As the papers were signed off, we intimated three groups of silent heroes the true rock-stars of our program about the development. The first are our donors who stand behind us with un-measurable commitment and rock solid support. It's their firm support to the cause of the little ones and their faith in us which make the impossible happen. The unique approach in which just the right amount of support is available for each of our children never too much and never too little ensures both rationality and adequacy of care. This is what has given us the strength to take up the next steps. Of-course the donors not only felt happy at the development, they also assured to continue and extend their support.
The second group of people are our soldiers on the ground the staff and the volunteers. These are the people who need to shoulder the additional responsibility. The news of the new program was received with renewal of energy to do more at all levels within the organisation and pave the way for growth and greater capacity. It's amazing how some of them started planning immediately on what changes they will work towards to ensure seamless transition to the next level.
The last and another crucial group are our families, friends and well wishers. In their own way, our decisions to take on more, affects them in ways which cannot be described in words. Nothing comes easy and nothing comes free. When we shared the news with them, they encouraged us with smiles and congratulations knowing that whatever could be called normalcy of life is going to be more elusive in the days to come.
The paper stands signed and the fixing the nut-bolts has begin. Over next 2 months the transplantation unit will be ready and hopefully the very first transplantation will start. For the numerous children who we have already identified as potential candidates for cure the good news that cure may finally be within reach is being shared. Down-staging patients has commenced. We will keep you posted.