Poverty Leaves Three Children Paralyzed

Bangka Belitung. Three children from a small Indonesian village have been left paralyzed because their parents could not afford basic medical care for relatively minor sicknesses.

State news agency Antara identified the children as Nurul Anisa, 9, Zainal Jannah, 7, and Faturrahman, 4, from Menduk village, Bangka district, Bangka Belitung.

Fatimah, the mother of Nurul, said she that because the family was poor, they could not afford the cost of medication and medical treatment when her daughter came down with a fever.

“I took my daughter to Sungailiat general hospital when she suffered from a high fever but I could not afford her medication. This ... forced me to take care of her at home,” Fatimah said.

She said that her daughter’s condition only deteriorated and she finally became paralyzed.

“I have taken her to the public hospital several times but she has not recovered. This condition made me decide to take care of her at home. I also do not have money,” she said.

Juaidi, another villager, said his children, Zainal and Faturrahman, also ended up paralyzed because he could not send them to hospital when they came down with fevers.

This father of six said that as he had not money, he had to take care of his ailing children with traditional medicine.

He said doctors recommended that he take his children to Jakarta for treatment but “I do not have money.”

Juaidi said he hoped donors could help his children so they still had the will to live.