Inspirational Courage
Posted by Rajan Patel
Sujatha is a young mother from the village of Krishnamylur, about three hours outside of Bangalore.
Sujatha’s story is a typical one in India: she has endured the death of all three of her children (hear her story here).
When we met with Sujatha, she talked to us about her dream to raise a healthy child, one that would achieve great things in life. However, Sujatha’s first two children died within two days of birth. One child was born at a government hospital which we saw firsthand. Small, dark, and dirty, the local government clinic even placed babies on the floor due to lack of chairs or beds.
Sujatha’s second child was born at home, two months premature. She described watching her baby turn blue from being cold. In efforts to warm the baby, her husband built a glass box to place him in and hung a lightbulb on top to keep him warm. But it was simply not enough.
Though the village doctors and her family urged her not to try for another child, she got pregnant with a third baby, having faith that things would be different. After she gave birth to her third child, Vishal, the doctor told her that he would survive no more than two weeks, as he was in extremely poor health. Her family told her that even if he were to survive, he would be disabled and thus be a burden to the family.
Her response was steadfast: "Then I will work hard and move to the city. I will put him in a school that accepts him and he will grow up to be strong and successful. I will do whatever it takes." After 8 months, Sujatha’s hopes were once again crushed.
Even after the loss of three children Sujatha was not stripped of her hope and courage. She adopted a healthy daughter, who is now 4 years old. And after we spoke to Sujatha, seven other mothers from the village came forward to tell us their stories. We learned that all of them had lost at least one child. Amazingly they also exemplified the same enduring hope.
We showed all these mothers our product and explained Embrace’s mission. After listening and observing one mother spoke.
"If this had been here a few years ago, I could have been a mother. I could have saved my baby. We want make sure this doesn’t have to happen to the future mothers of our village."
While incredibly saddened by these stories, we were also uplifted to see how hopeful, courageous and capable these women were, and how they are desperate to lift themselves out of their current conditions. All they need is the opportunity, and access to basic health care, so they can fulfill their deepest desires to be mothers and to raise children.
As we left the village we asked these women one last question. We asked them if there was anything they wanted us to bring back the next time we came.
Sujatha simply replied, "better healthcare."
We hope our product will fulfill this wish.
