Anisha’s Road to Recovery

I am Margery Vice from Umkomaas in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. I am the co-ordinator for Anisha Singh's Road to Recovery fundraising campaign.

Anisha is a 15 year old girl who, in 2014 was struck down with the auto-immune disease called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. This is a chronic, multisystem auto-immune disorder that can affect nearly every major organ system, causing inflammation, tissue injury, organ damage, and, ultimately, organ dysfunction.

In Anisha's case the damage is so severe that she has lost the ability to walk, her eyesight is greatly impaired and she is incontinent. The result of all this is that she has missed nearly 4 years of school because no school in the greater Durban area is able to cater to her special needs. Last year in October she had a two-week assessment at a special needs school in Durban but her application was rejected on the grounds that she is too dependant on a caregiver and that she needs intensive physical rehabilitation.

She is an outpatient at Albert Luthuli hospital in Durban where they monitor her condition every 6 months and provide her with medication monthly. In our government health system she is not able to obtain the intensive physical therapy that is needed to get her mobile again. She will need to go for private physiotherapy.

Therefore we are appealing for help to pay the expenses needed for Anisha to get the assistance that she needs.

Here is some background on this Indian family. Her parents have not been employed since Anisha became ill because of the high care that she requires. They live in a house that is so small that Anisha cannot even push herself around in her wheelchair. Her father has to lift her because her mother is a small lady and cannot lift a 15-year old girl on her own. The family survive on a disability grant which translates to about $185 per month. It is impossible to pay for anything else besides food and household expenses.

We are appealing for help to take Anisha to a private physiotherapist which will cost R350 which translates to about $25 per consultation. She will need two consultations per week until she is fully mobile again. We would also like to erect a wooden cabin in the garden for Anisha to use as an exercise and activity room. This will cost R8000 which is about $570.

These are the two main expenses at the present time. However, on our wishlist is a Rife Micro-Pulse Wellness Stimulator which aids the body in a beneficial way and strengthens her immune system. This machine costs $600.

It's been a long road for this family, but hopefully and prayerfully, Anisha will soon be on the Road to Recovery.

We would like to begin physiotherapy as soon as funds become available and we can provide all possible medical reports on Anisha.