A Mother’s Advocacy: How Fareed’s Mother Pushed for His Well Being

When you were a child, who took care of you when you were sick?

Who took you to the hospital if things were getting serious? Who talked to the doctors as you lay on a hospital bed? Who brought you home? Who made sure you took your medicine on time? Who communicated with your teachers to let them know you would be missing school? 

It is not easy to navigate the healthcare system. It requires you to know how to write and effectively communicate before you even walk through the door. But what if you were illiterate? What if you had never spoken to a doctor or even someone from outside of our social sphere before? What if one day your child fell deadly ill? What would you do?

Fareed was eight years-old when he came down with pneumonia in 2019.

When his parents, a homemaker and a rickshaw driver, rushed him to the hospital, they learned that Fareed had developed an additional kidney infection that required him to stay in the hospital for a prolonged period of time. Fareed’s parents could not afford his treatment. Luckily, Fareed’s teacher, a Teach for India fellow, got in touch with the Soondra Foundation. We were able to provide a grant that covered Fareed’s hospital stay. What makes Fareed’s story compelling is the role his mother played throughout his entire illness. Fareed’s father was the sole income earner in his family so it was up to Fareed’s mother to care for her son when he got sick. In the face of many challenges, Fareed’s mother never gave up on her son.

Fareed’s mother is a homemaker who was never educated.

Because of this, she was never taught to advocate for herself, never taught how to fill out paperwork, communicate with doctors, file a prescription, etc. And yet in the face of all of this adversity, she knew one thing: that her son was sick and she would do everything in her power to make sure he would be ok. Right after she learned about Fareed’s medical costs, she immediately reached out to his teacher to tell him what was wrong and ask him for help. If Fareed’s mother had not called his teacher, the Soondra Foundation would never have known he was sick and would never have been able to pay for his hospital bills. While Fareed was in the hospital receiving treatment for his illnesses, his mother was insistent on him keeping up with his education. She called his teacher frequently to ask about the lessons Fareed was missing and the homework he needed to do. Against all odds, Fareed’s mother became the strongest advocate for her son and it is because of her and her advocacy that Fareed was able to recover as quickly as he did. 

Although Women’s History Month has come to a close, we want to take a moment to acknowledge Fareed’s mother and women like her around the world who, regardless of the challenges thrown their way, never stop fighting for their families’ wellbeing.