At Khalanga, one of her neighbors introduced us to her. Her name is Mushkan Aama (name’s changed). She just silently stood there, with her hands clasped in front of her chest. Her neighbor interjected, “ She can not hear or speak. She is 90 years old and lives all alone. Her husband passed away when she was young. She has been living alone since then. We try to help her, but she can’t speak so it’s difficult to understand her needs. Sometimes she goes days without eating because she can’t go get firewood to cook. Sometimes she cries, then we realize something might be wrong and go help her.”
Aama stood there silently. She stood patiently, waiting for her turn as our distribution continued. We approached her and handed her the package she was eagerly waiting for. As we handed her our food packages, she started giggling with joy. With her hands folded in namaste, she hugged the packages close to her. Her neighbor smiled and said “ She will be able to feed herself for weeks without any problem. She hadn’t giggled like this for a while now.”
With a huge smile on her face, Muskan aama slowly carried her package towards her home. Her frail back turned towards us. Momentary happiness in the journey of her life.
Thank you for helping us make Muskan Aama smile again. We hope to have your support in the future to visit her soon.
