Sometimes, fighting a disease is only the beginning of the battle. For nine-year-old Aaheli Sutradhar, a former student of Yasashi, being diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, was only the first of many challenges her family would have to face. The diagnosis brought with it another difficult reality: the enormous financial burden of fighting a serious illness, without a father to support (who unfortunately had passed away the previous year). It was during this difficult period that our journey with Aaheli began.

Aaheli has always been a very lively and confident girl, good at her studies and a natural artist. She loves drawing and painting, and enjoys getting ready to click pictures of herself. Even when faced with a life-threatening disease, she has lost none of her liveliness or bravery. She continues to draw, paint and make bead bracelets in between her cancer treatments. Seeing her navigate this difficult journey while continuing to keep her spirit high is an incredibly hopeful sight.

Yasashi has always been proactive when it comes to being of service to people who, due to their circumstances, are unable to help themselves out of difficult situations. From providing free education to disadvantaged families through the Yasashi Education Centre in Ghuligaon, to undertaking distributions of free educational materials, flood relief materials and other forms of assistance, Yasashi has consistently tried to stand beside those who need support the most. As volunteers of Yasashi, my co-volunteer Dhruvaditya Das and I, Anandita Sonowal, were given the opportunity to support Aaheli and her family, particularly with the documentation and application process required to seek financial assistance for her treatment. What initially seemed like a task involving forms, medical documents and applications soon became something much more meaningful.

We visited Aaheli on 14 August, spoke with her family and tried to understand the circumstances surrounding her treatment and the kind of assistance they required. From there on, we began working with the family to organise the necessary documents, understand the requirements of different financial assistance schemes and complete the applications needed to seek support for Aaheli’s treatment.

The process was not simply about collecting documents and submitting applications. There were several steps that needed to be completed, details that had to be verified, and documents that had to be arranged and issued before the applications could finally be submitted. Every form represented another step towards making treatment a little more financially manageable for Aaheli and her family.

Our first step was to consult Puja Ma’am, a beloved social worker who looks after the medical affairs of small children afflicted by this heartbreaking disease. She helps them avail financial assistance schemes and guides their families through the paperwork, while also being a ray of hope during an unimaginably difficult time. She assisted us with the step-by-step process involved in applying for two schemes: the PM CARES Fund and the IOCL fund.

We then began verifying the documents that were already available with the family and identifying those that still needed to be issued. Once all the necessary documents were ready, Manobi Ma’am, Yasashi’s Founder, took forward the process by contacting IOCL regarding the submission and coordinating with a Member of Parliament regarding the recommendation letter required for the PM CARES application.

What followed was two weeks of hospital visits, documentation, applications and bureaucratic work, all while juggling college and our other responsibilities. It was tiring, and at times overwhelming, but there was never really any room for complaint. All we and the Yasashi family wanted was to see Aaheli get better as soon as possible and to make sure she received all the care and facilities she needed to fight back.

Our efforts eventually led to IOCL contributing ₹75,000 towards Aaheli’s treatment. We also had the opportunity to meet Bijuli Kalita Medhi Ma’am, Member of Parliament from the Guwahati constituency, and received a recommendation letter from her. The letter, along with the necessary supporting documents, was subsequently mailed to the Prime Minister’s Office last month. We expect financial assistance amounting to ₹8 lakh to be received by Aaheli’s family by the end of this year.

But while the paperwork continued, Aaheli was fighting a battle far more difficult than any form or application could capture. After her first chemotherapy session, Aaheli contracted a pneumonia infection and had to battle an extremely high fever for almost a week. The infection required expensive medicines, adding yet another burden to an already difficult situation. At one point, doctors told the family that if Aaheli did not begin showing signs of recovery, she might not make it. But Aaheli, being the strong girl she is, fought back bravely.

Her fever eventually subsided, and the infection was cleared. She is doing better now and will soon begin her second chemotherapy session.

For us, the documents, applications, hospital visits and phone calls may have been tasks that had to be completed. For Aaheli and her family, however, they represented something much bigger: access to treatment, financial relief and, most importantly, hope.

The funds Yasashi has helped her family acquire, along with the support we have been able to provide throughout this journey, have been a source of strength for Aaheli, and perhaps even more so for her mother, who has been the bravest soul through this difficult time.

Aaheli’s journey is far from over. There are more chemotherapy sessions ahead, more difficult days to face and undoubtedly many more challenges for her family. But today, there is also hope.

We pray that Aaheli beats cancer, completes her treatment and comes back to us healthy, happy and safe.