Share Christmas, help Anil pay for Cancer surgery

Government Hospital with crowds of patients waiting care.

Anil will need to wait at least 3-4 months to get care at this facility

Hi, this is Louise Peck. My husband, Walt and I were in New Delhi, India for 18 months about 5 years ago. We worked closely with Anil Kumar and got to know his family well. He spent years as a driver for the India New Delhi Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He would drive the mission president and family wherever they needed to go because we from the USA were not allowed to drive on the crazy streets in India. He also took missionaries to new areas or ran errands for the mission. Sometimes he took the senior missionaries on tour or shopping, He was a great tour guide because he knew the history of places. He knows how to weave through the traffic safely to get you where you need to go. But now he has been unemployed for the past 8 months. This has been very difficult because as the father of the family, he has always been the sole breadwinner on a limited salary. His wife works as a baby sitter for a family friend, earning enough to by basic food while he has been unemployed. Now his daughter has a job which might pay the rent. But she had planned on using that money to help her go to school.

Anil has a wonderful family with two children and his wife. His wife speaks very little English, but his children do very well. His dream is that his children would graduate high school, then go on a mission for the Church and eventually go to college hopefully in the USA. His daughter completed her mission in South India last spring and is in the process of applying to BYU Hawaii. His son left on his mission, also to South India, at the end of November. So they are fulfilling his dream. The family picture above shows them in a happy time just before the daughter left for her mission.

Dinner was served to guests on the bed in the one room apartment

The family lives in a one room apartment on the top floor of a large apartment complex or village. The apartment consists of one room which serves a living room, bedroom, and dining room. They are lucky enough to have a large bed in which the whole family has slept for years together. There is a nook for a kitchen and a smaller one for a bathroom. This is quite comfortable for them as they are used to the crowded circumstances. But with the loss of his job they may have to move to the slums where his wife's parents and sister live. There the rooms are very tiny and they just have a corner with a hot plate for a kitchen and share a community bathroom with several other families.

Anil with his niece on her first birthday

Despite their limited living arrangements they are a happy family as are many of our friends who live in the same complex. Anil is always looking for ways to serve others: missionaries, neighbors, family members. In the past, I have heard him say that today he was at the hospital sitting with a neighbor who was sick, maybe dying. Once this last month he was there with a friend's small child who had to be hospitalized for several days. He would spend the night at the hospital so other family members could go home and rest. Now it is his turn to be cared for.

Anil when he went to the hospital the first day and learned he had cancer

Recently we have heard that Anil has been diagnosed with throat cancer. His doctor has told him that he needs to have surgery immediately within the next month to survive. Unfortunately he has no money and the government hospital where he could receive the needed treatment is backlogged at least 3-4 months with patients needing help. We visited that hospital when we lived there. We helped with a service project from the members of the Church where blankets were made for families who were waiting for care. We delivered the blankets to the hospital and gave them to families who were living in the courtyard on the cement patios. A whole family would be there together with the loved one who was waiting care. It might be a child or a grandparent who was sick. The crowded rooms testify of the many people waiting for treatment. Anil can not wait for his turn at this hospital because his cancer is growing quickly. So he needs to go to a private hospital to get the treatment he needs quickly. He was told that the cost of the surgery at a private hospital would be 5 laks in India rupees. That is equivalent to about $6000 US$. That is so low cost in India compared to what it would be in the USA. But Anil has no way to get that amount himself. The 5 lak seems like a fortune to him.

So would you consider donating $50 or $100 or any amount you can to help Anil get this treatment at this Christmas time as a service or Light the World activity for the blessings you have received this year. We are so blessed in the US with large comfortable homes, medical care that is available paid for by insurance and food in plenty. Help Anil live longer and see his children fulfill his dream for them. Help him so he can be there for his wife who needs him to care for her. Help him so he can continue to serve others as he has done in the past.

We sincerely appreciate any contribution you can give. The money will go directly to paying the medical bills for Anil.