Why Did My Children Die?

BY THE time doctors landed in our village for the first time, our village had already lost 11 children to chamki (a yet-unknown type of acute encephalopathy syndrome) fever.

- Ramesh Sahni

On June 15, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter died in my arms. We took her to a private doctor in a neighboring village, the closest one we have. “Take her to the block health center or she can’t be saved,” said the doctor. That facility is 15 km away, and we wasted two hours arranging for a private vehicle. She died on the way.

It was the second time I lost a child to chamki. Four years ago, my six-year-old son died the same way and with the same helplessness that this village without doctors has come to be identified with. He died in a hospital some 20 km away.