Bhupendra Ram
2 years old, Jhansi

Bhupendra Ram is in desperate need of nutrition, shelter and medical care. He’s brother to Jhansi robins Preeti, Pawan and Poonam. The children were orphaned just a few months ago.

During the Jhansi home visit in October 2007 Robin and Veronica discovered that the Ram children that RNCH sponsors also had a 2-year-old baby brother, Bhupendra, who was so tiny, they originally thought he was around 8 months old. This baby boy with bulging eyes from malnutrition, protruding belly button and stomach filled with parasites, was left to crawl on village roads to eat cow dung and mud to suppress the hunger pains. He would drink dirty water from old dirty used drink bottles.

Robin reached to hold the baby but 8-year-old sister Preeti kept saying ‘no’ while pointing to his stomach. They eventually discovered that the baby felt discomfort when held with any pressure on his bloated belly. Robin rubbed oil into his little dehydrated body and was saddened with the discovery he’d never spoken a word due to being tied-tongue (an oral defect that will only take a small snip under the tongue to correct). On the last day of the home visit, the four Ram siblings were happily reunited and your support enabled us to leave money for them to receive blood tests, X-rays and medication. At this appointment all four children were diagnosed with TB that they unfortunately contracted from their parents.

About TB: TB is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs that can spread around body. It’s very hard to treat because it has a high resistance to medication. It usually requires 3 to 4 different antibiotics for 6 or more months to cure a person. In Australia, if a person has TB they’re very closely monitored by their local public health unit. Some people aren't cured despite medication.

Click here to learn more about TB