Beulah’s Story

Beulah is 8 years old and apart from a short break in 2014, has been at Asha Kiran Ashram since 2012. Those of you who attend our Supporters’ Evenings will already be captivated by the delightful Beulah and moved by her irrepressible joy for life.

During her mother’s pregnancy Beulah’s father met with an accident which severed his legs. As the family breadwinner was no longer earning money they decided that the pregnancy should not continue and that the expectant mother would take an abortifacient. This was done, but it failed to terminate the pregnancy. Instead, Beulah was born seriously disabled: in a cruel twist of fate, she has only short stumps of legs, and also one hand has just one finger and a thumb, whilst the other hand has no thumb, one good finger, and two other fingers fused together in a single member. Despite this, she is a happy intelligent child who joins in with everything enthusiastically – even dancing with the other children.

The plan is to get Beulah prosthetic legs. She has had one visit to Chennai to have the necessary measurements taken, and we are expecting to hear any day of her having returned to have the legs fitted. The cost of this is estimated to be Rs. 35,000 (£450).

However, this is just the beginning. The process will need to be repeated annually. Obviously, as she grows she will need bigger legs. When she is 18 she can be fitted with legs that will last her for the foreseeable future – but this will be much more expensive as the legs will have to be far more durable. The total budget is therefore about £6,000 over 10 years and HHI has committed to this.

The £900 raised on a single Saturday at the Strathaven Bridge Drive has given this initiative a tremendous start. Thank you to our fantastic SFHHI supporters and friends. We’re looking forward to news of Beulah and we’ll keep you posted on her progress.