In 2016 we were made aware there was a little 4-year-old girl in the tea gardens who had 'something wrong with her left eye'.
We were asked if we could help financially to get her transported to the hospital and seen, as her parents were too poor to afford either of these costs.
Immediately we made arrangements for transport and an escort to accompany the family to the hospital that same week.
When we saw the photos of Hashi we were dismayed. It was clear she had an advanced cancer in her eye and this was confirmed by Moulvibazar Eye Hospital.
On advice we arranged for her to be taken to the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, to a specialist hospital.
The serious diagnosis was confirmed in Dhaka and the prognosis was not good. It was an advanced life-threatening cancer.
As a charity we wanted to give Hashi a chance of survival and so we paid for Hashi to have her eye removed and chemotherapy afterwards.
Hashi lost all her hair and the experience for this family (taken out of their tea garden and miles away to Dhaka) with a child so seriously ill was harrowing.
But Hashi’s story is one that gives hope. Against all natural odds, today, four years on, Hashi is alive and well and attending school with life ahead of her.
We have offered to pay for a prosthesis if Hashi would like one. For now she is happy as she is.
In 2018 Rachel met Hashi and her family in one of the most emotional and unforgettable moments of her life.
Here was a little girl on the other side of the world whose life we had saved and whose family unit was thriving.
A testimony to what a difference we can make when we give a little of our wealth in the West to help those living in extreme poverty.
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