FEROZKOH (Pajhwok): Mahjabin, hailing from western Ghor province, has devoted 25 years of her life to nursing three paralysed children. Despite her unwavering dedication, she finds herself unable to afford her children’s treatment.
Living in the Jarfaizabad village of Ferozkoh, the provincial capital, the 42-year-old mother reflects on her life.
At the age of 15, she married a man significantly older than her. They have two daughters and five sons. Their first daughter, Zainab, was born healthy and is now married.
However, all her children born after Zainab gradually became quadriplegic.. Her second son, Jabbar, is 24 years old. Mahjabin recalls that he was healthy until the age of seven, when his hands and legs became paralysed.
Her third son, Juma Gul, 22, though not paralysed, has a short stature that makes him appear much younger than his years. Both her fourth son Sardar, 20, and fifth son Sattar, 16, are suffer from full paralysis of limbs.
Her sixth child, a daughter named Khair-ul-Nisa, is 14 years old. Although she showed early signs of paralysis, she began treatment promptly, preventing the condition from progressing further.
Khair-ul-Nisa can walk, eat, help her mother with household chores and even attends school as a sixth grade student.
Milad, her youngest and seventh child, is nine years old. Unlike his siblings, Milad is healthy. In Mahjabin’s words, he is strong because he was not breastfed.
He is described as clever and lively, excelling in school and securing top marks in his class.
The painful reality of paralysed sons
Mahjabin’s three paralysed sons spend their days lying in various corners of the house, waiting for their mother’s care. Despite their physical suffering, their eyes radiate love and gratitude towards their mother, who is their primary source of hope and life.
Nursing her three paralysed sons and doing household chores is no easy task. But Mahjabin draws strength from her motherly affection, which motivates her to manage all household responsibilities, without losing sight of her children’s needs.
At noon, she prepares a simple meal for her family, consisting of “qoruti” (a type of yogurt), two raw onions and water. One by one, she feeds her paralysed sons, ensuring they are attended to before she eats herself. This tender act of devotion reflects the depth of a mother’s love and sacrifice.
Mahjabin admits the physical challenge of caring for her children has become more difficult over the years. “Every day, I wake up with worry and fear,” she says.
“When they were small, it was easier for me. But now that they have grown up and their weight and height have increased, it has become very hard. Sometimes, when I take them to the toilet, I don’t have the strength, and I have to drag them all the way.”
Hope for a better future
Despite the overwhelming challenges she faces, Mahjabin’s greatest hope is to see her paralysed sons and her daughter, who is currently undergoing treatment, recover. She dreams of a day when they will be able to lead a normal life.
Sitting beside her sons, Mahjabin dotes on them with a sense of optimism. She speaks of her children’s diagnosis – a nerve block leading to their paralysis.
This condition is curable, but the cost of treatment is substantial. Each child’s treatment requires more than 100,000 afghanis — a sum far beyond her means.
Her husband works as a janitor at the provincial hospital in Ghor, with a meagre monthly salary of 5,000 afghanis. This is barely enough to cover the family’s basic needs, let alone pay for the children’s treatment.
“I often think,” she says, “if my children were healthy, they would have homes and cars and would take me on trips. I am not hopeless. God willing, my dreams will come true one day.”
Mahjabin wants wealthy individuals and the government to fund the treatment of her children and thereby help improve their living conditions so they may one day lead a better life.
sa/mud
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