I'm Stephanie, an American living in Nepal. I've been supporting Samir Shrestha and his work helping children with cancer. The story of this young 10-year girl who is fighting cancer has really moved me, and I'm trying to help her get enough money for a bone marrow transplant. Please contribute anything you can. It's urgent because she needs the procedure in July.

Seeking support for life-saving treatment for a young girl in Nepal: Ramita (name changed) Gurung

Who needs your help? Ramita (name changed) Gurung is a 10 year-old girl who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at Patan Hospital in Kathmandu. After completing 9 months of treatment, the cancer is still present. The next course of treatment is a risky and expensive blood marrow transplant.

The help is urgently needed: She is undergoing 7 rounds of chemotherapy now in preparation for the transplant. The BMT is tentatively scheduled for the middle/end of July.

Ramita is all alone, with only her aunt and uncle trying to help her. Her parents live in Bandipur, Tanahu. The family are farmers. She is the youngest of her family, with older 3 sisters and a brother. Currently, she is living here with her aunt and uncle in the Kathmandu suburbs, in Hattiban. Her aunt is supporting most of her treatment so far―as well as supporting the other children. Ramita’s parents sadly have abandoned her and do not respond to her phone calls.

For people who do not know much about Nepal, there is no health insurance (such as Medicaid) for poor families to cover medical costs. These costs are out of pocket and often catastrophic for families who sell everything including their land to pay for medical care. Currently in Nepal there are not any charities supporting these costs at scale, but smaller NGOs such as Dirghajeevani and kind humans who make donations when there are cases shared through social media.

Treatment and related costs: The total costs will be $28,000 (32 lakh) and Ramita still needs $26,500 to begin the transplant.

Where the money will go? I work with Samir at Dirghajeevi voluntary group who will oversee payment of the medical bills directly. This lovely NGO supports a lot of families whose children have cancer through psycho-social support. Samir Shrestha has a lot of experience with these types of situations and has Ramita’s best interest at heart.

Dirghajeevi―through their networks with hospitals and oncologists―found Ramita and have explored her case to verify the medical needs and estimated costs. They kindly are providing food and basic supplies for Ramita, but don’t have the funds or mandate to pay for the medical expenses for the many children who need urgent and expensive medical care. In the event that Ramita doesn’t use all the funds raised, any money donated will be used to support other children with cancer for their medical care and related expenses (e.g., food, transport to hospital).

For more information about Dirghajeevi:

For kind friends in Nepal who want to contribute, please contact Dirghajeevi at the link above.

Thank you!