Hi , My name is Rhoda… I would like to ask you all to Pray for my dear friend Gulsika. Many of you are familiar with our dear friend Fazal and Zahida from Akron . Here is the story he wrote on behalf of his dear brother and his wife.
A Mother’s Life Hanging by a Thread
Gulsika’s story is not just one of illness - it is a story of strength, sacrifice, and heartbreak. She is a mother, a fighter, and a survivor of unimaginable hardships.
In a land scarred by decades of war, poverty, and oppression - where women are silenced and stripped of their rights - Gulsika raised four children with nothing but grit, love, and unshakable faith. She gave them hope when there was none. She pushed them toward education in a place where girls are denied schools and mothers are denied rest. And just as two of her sons proudly became Architecture and Civil engineers -a dream realized after years of struggle- tragedy struck.
Gulsika was diagnosed with Stage 3 gallbladder cancer. By the time doctors found it, it had already spread to her pancreas.
In Afghanistan, where hospitals lack medicine and doctors lack tools, cancer is a death sentence - not because it’s untreatable, but because there are no sources to treat. For months, her pain was ignored. Her life, like so many others, was seen as expendable. When her condition worsened, my brother -her husband- did the impossible. He got a visa for Pakistan - the only nearby country willing to accept Afghans. But even with the visa, border authorities still demanded 80,000 rupees in bribes just to let them cross. Imagine - a dying mother reduced to a bargaining chip. No dignity. No mercy. Just a woman clinging to life, seen as nothing more than a source of profit.
Since then, Gulsika has been taken from one hospital to another in different states of Pakistan such as Quetta, Karachi, and Lahore. Each hospital ran tests. Each city drained more time, money, and hope. She is now receiving chemotherapy. Her second round was just completed on May 23rd.
But my brother has exhausted every single resource he had. He has already borrowed money from relatives and friends. Emotionally, he is broken. Financially, he is bankrupt. He has dedicated his life to enlightening Afghan society as an author, having written and translated more than 10 books — but today, unfortunately, he is helpless in the face of his wife's life-threatening illness. He has done everything humanly possible -paid for tests, medicines, food, travel, hospital admissions- but it’s not enough anymore.
Her doctors currently plan six-eight cycles of chemotherapy, followed by radiation, surgery procedures, and immunotherapy if the cancer stabilizes. But they won’t proceed unless payments are made. That’s the cold reality. And that is why we are here.
We are not watching her die because her cancer is unstoppable. We are watching her die because she is not able to pay.
Gulsika doesn’t want much. She doesn’t want to travel the world, own a house, or live in luxury. She just wants to live long enough to see her children stand on their feet - to see the fruits of the life she built with sweat and sacrifice. And now, she needs financial support.
The estimated cost of her full treatment is:
• Chemotherapy sessions: $8,500
• Radiation Therapy: $6,000
• Surgical Procedures (Cholecystectomy, Whipple, Distal Pancreatectomy, Pancreatectomies): $17,500
• Immunotherapy: $5,000
• Hospitalization: $3,000
• Medical tests: $2,000
• Medication: $2,000
• Transportation and follow-ups: $1,000
• Food and basic living expenses: $2,000
Total: $47,000
Your donation is more than money - it is a chance to give life to someone who is begging to survive.
With your help, we can give Gulsika a fighting chance. Please stand with us. Please don’t let poverty be her death sentence.
Help us give her hope, healing, and support she needs to survive.
Thank you