Facebook boon for disabled
Lal Prasad Sharma
Social networking site Facebook has turned out to be a boon for differently-abled people at Parbat Ranipani VDC-6 in Kaski. Bal Bahadur Pariyar, whose five daughters are disabled, has received Rs 1 million from kind-hearted Nepali migrant workers in Israel after their plight was shared in Facebook.
According to Kumar Poudel, a migrant worker in Israel and coordinator of the assistance committee formed to help the Pariyar family, the amount was collected through a campaign initiated in the networking site. “We created a profile named ‘Nepalese in Israel’ where we put details of the family to collect the sum and also organised deusi and bhailo during the Tihar festival for the purpose,” he said.
A television programme host Laxmi Prasad Poudel had uploaded some video pictures of the family on YouTube six months ago. Thereafter, migrant worker Surya Basyal from Banke had placed the video on his Facebook status two months ago, stating ‘Family members of the disabled would get relief if they get help’.
After reading the status, Kumar, Surya and Gopal Sitaula from Jhapa formed the seven-member committee and held discussion to raise fund for the disabled.
Poudel said Rs 1 million, of the total sum collected, has been deposited in Pariyar’s account in Kusma branch of Kasthamandav Bank.
Meanwhile, Pariyar, who works as a labourer to sustain his family, said that he is happy with the assistance from the benevolent people. “The money is a great help for me,” he said. His five daughters—19-year-old Mithu, 17-year-old Ganga, 11-year-old Jamuna, 11-year-old Ganga and eight-year-old Anita—cannot move hands and legs and are bedridden since seven months of their birth. He said he took his daughters to hospitals for treatment, but to no avail. “They need medicines every day and one Babu KC of Kathmandu has been providing Rs 10,000 a month as assistance.”
Published on: 18 November 2011 | The Kathmandu Post
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