Mumpi's Story

Nicole remembers her first meeting with 9 year old Mumpi.  It was a usual day for her in Mayapur being overwhelmed with between 80 and 90 patients from the village she was visiting that day.  She briefly met Mumpi that day in the Krishnagar village. She had it explained to her that Mumpi was very weak and that she couldn't run and play with her friends at school without becoming breathless and lethargic. At the time she remembers thinking to herself that this must have some underlying pathological condition of either the heart or lungs and that further treatment would be needed. However it was such a difficult situation as Mumpi's parents are very poor. Nicole gave her a remedy and hoped for the best.

After Nicole’s return to Australia, Mumpi's school teacher was the first to identify that there was something serious wrong with Mumpi’s health. He wrote to Bishnu- the Funds Officer from SMVS (Sri Mayapur Vikas Sangha) explaining that Mumpi was very tired, couldn't concentrate in class and was often sitting out of games in class. Her teacher then went to visit her parents and relayed his concerns which began the ball rolling for Mumpi's diagnosis. Mumpi was sent to see a cardiologist and a congenital heart defect was detected. Further tests revealed that she needed open heart surgery urgently or she wouldn't live. Her parents became alarmed with this news and asked if the school could help in any way. Mumpi's school teacher then informed the rest of the staff at her school and they all donated 10% of their annual wage to help with the costs of Mumpi's operation. (This is a huge sacrifice as school teachers are paid very low wages, barely enough to feed their own family.) This however only provided a fraction of the money needed and so in desperation her teacher approached Bishnu once again to see if he could somehow obtain the funding from an international source.

Bishnu's wrote to Nicole requesting her help. Upon her return to Australia Nicole had begun the process of setting up Rebalance the Globe.  Within four weeks of receiving Bishnu’s plea Rebalance the Globe had created the awareness of Mumpi's situation and received the money from generous donors so that Mumpi's operation could go ahead. The operation was planned soon after the funds had been transferred and Mumpi and her parents began to travel to Calcutta hospital to undergo treatment. Fortunately a large donation from a company in the Gold Coast meant that we were able to offer Mumpi's parents to accompany her to Calcutta. This cost had not been considered in the original request for funds.  Rebalance the Globe was able to cover the cost of travel and the loss of wages Mumpi's father incurred whilst he and his wife supported their daughter through this traumatic experience. Mumpi, her younger sister and her parents were in Calcutta for a few weeks and we received regular updates on her progress as she improved daily with better health.

Until our recent visit to Mayapur we had not seen any photos of Mumpi after her operation. Nicole was amazed at how well and how active she was after only a few months. Mumpi was totally overwhelmed in meeting us and her parents were very humble and didn't have any words to share, however the gratitude from her family, her teacher and Bishnu was incredible. Visiting Mumpi after her operation was definitely the highlight of our last visit. It proves that as a group we can make a significant difference to these people in desperate need of health care. Her recovery started with her school teacher taking the initiative and caring. And so the success story continued from there. We were thrilled that we could help this beautiful little girl and give her a second chance at living her life.

Read the thank you letter written by Mumpi's teacher

See all the video and photos of Nicole's reunion with Mumpi

See where Mumpi goes to school. The average number of students in a class room at Lady Carmichael is 100.