{"id":4297,"date":"2012-10-18T14:51:15","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T21:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stirringthefire.org\/blog\/?p=4297"},"modified":"2014-05-14T15:27:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T22:27:32","slug":"from-the-field-the-story-of-burn-survivor-man-kumari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/18\/from-the-field-the-story-of-burn-survivor-man-kumari\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Field: The Story of Burn Survivor Man Kumari"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our founder, Phil Borges, along with two Volunteer Production Assistants<\/a>,\u00a0Rachel Gray<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Catherine Cussaguet<\/a>, are currently in Nepal working with\u00a0Resurge International<\/a>.\u00a0 The organization does incredible work to\u00a0provide free reconstructive surgeries for the poor and builds year-round medical access in underserved areas. \u00a0 We will post their stories throughout the coming week. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Man Kumari<\/p><\/div>\n

Written by Rachel Gray<\/p>\n

The film crew and the medical team collectively set off for a journey though the quiet mountains of Nepal, away from the busyness of Kathmandu.\u00a0 Dr. Shankar (the lead reconstructive surgeon in Nepal) travels to remote areas in Nepal to see patients and perform surgeries about once a month.\u00a0\u00a0 On this trip we visited four patients in their homes (a rare occurrence for Dr. Shankar who is busy performing surgeries building a huge arena for social change).<\/p>\n

We traveled down a bumpy road to visit elder patient Man Kumari, a burn survivor of seven years past.\u00a0 Coming up to the house I see kids being dropped off from school in a small auto rickshaw.\u00a0 A cool looking man with a long white beard and John Lennon style glasses is standing in the road.\u00a0 A man is herding his goats uphill.\u00a0 Villagers are carrying heavy loads too and from the forest.\u00a0 Kids are pumping water from the well. The van approaches and even before we all get out, Man Kumari extends her hand out to Sara and is already in tears.\u00a0 Sara is the chief coordinator for ReSurge international who met Man Kumari this past year.\u00a0 It is clear that she is happy to see us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Inside Man Kumari’s house<\/p><\/div>\n

She pulls out plastic chairs and we sit and talk outside before we set up the interview.\u00a0 Man Kumari motions for me to come inside.\u00a0 She pulls up her sari and reveals the massive scarring and discoloration on her right leg. Man Kumari\u2019s tragic accident involved a kerosene lamp tipping over and her Sari lighting up in flames.\u00a0 Her skin contracted behind her knees disabling her from walking.\u00a0 Man Kumari is a poor woman, and access to health care is very limited in remote areas of Nepal. She didn\u2019t have the means to make it to a hospital, and thought she might never walk again. Man Kumari expressed how difficult it was to live in her village without being able to walk.\u00a0 As a single woman living alone, how could she possibly supply for herself? How was she supposed to get water?\u00a0 Man Kumari said if she had to live like this forever, she would rather die.<\/p>\n

Years later when Dr. Shankar first saw Man Kumari, she came into his office crawling on her knees.\u00a0 Dr. Shankar enabled her to walk again, and essentially restored her life.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s amazing about this story is how the villagers responded to her tragedy. The villagers came together after the accident, each household gave her 20 rupees (the equivalent of 25 cents).\u00a0 This enabled her to buy a bus ticket to Kathmandu to get surgery.\u00a0 Two young men accompanied Man Kumari on her journey, carrying her to and from the bus, all the way to Kathmandu Model Hospital.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Villagers helped Man Kumari after she was badly burned<\/p><\/div>\n

The villagers also built her a home that she lives in. It\u2019s one room, with a bed and a place to cook.\u00a0 I see a small alter embedded in the wall, and other little jems.\u00a0 A true grandmother\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Man Kumari expressed that the villagers are like God to her, especially her daughter who supported her through this whole process.\u00a0 There have been so many cases where women get abandoned by their families, and shunned by society after a burn incident.\u00a0 This is not that story, and so it leaves me with hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our founder, Phil Borges, along with two Volunteer Production Assistants,\u00a0Rachel Gray\u00a0and\u00a0Catherine Cussaguet, are currently in Nepal working with\u00a0Resurge International.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,22],"tags":[470,137,158,471,159,472],"class_list":["post-4297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-documentary-training","category-stirring-the-fire","tag-burn-victim","tag-from-the-field","tag-nepal","tag-rachel-gray","tag-resurge-international","tag-womans-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the Field: The Story of Burn Survivor Man Kumari - Phil Borges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/18\/from-the-field-the-story-of-burn-survivor-man-kumari\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the Field: The Story of Burn Survivor Man Kumari - 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