A big thank you

Where and how do we even begin to thank all the donors for coming together so well as a community to help Ushta Confectioner with her medical bills and treatment?

Ushta is a four-and-a-half-year-old girl suffering from burns she received when she fell backwards into a large vat of hot milk in a Bombay shop. She sustained burns on 65 percent of her body, many of these third degree ones. She received excellent emergency treatment at the Masina Hospital in Bombay where her initial skin grafts were performed and she was brought into a stable condition by Drs Keshwani and Shirin Mullan.

The Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) and World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO), at the request of Ushta’s parents, Zarir and Hootoksi Confectioner, initiated a fund-raising drive for the medical treatment and subsequently, once again upon the request of Ushta’s parents made the necessary arrangements to transfer the child to Shriner’s Burns Hospital in Boston, USA. Today, thanks to the generosity of donors and the good wishes and prayers of well-wishers, Ushta is in Boston, receiving best possible medical care at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

Since being admitted there, surgery has been successfully performed on Ushta. The goal so far, per the head nurse there, has been to provide the child good nutrition, to help her get stronger so that her body may more easily help heal the new skin grafts. The nurse goes on to say that both Ushta and her mother are adjusting well and that Ushta is becoming a favorite among her caregivers.

Although it is still too soon for the medical team in Boston to say when Ushta will recover fully, the very encouraging news is that she has now been moved to Acute Care, which means she is "no longer the sickest child in ICU.”

The Zoroastrian Association of the Greater Boston Area (ZAGBA) has come together fantastically to provide support both to Ushta and her mother. They have a visiting schedule by which various members visit the hospital. They have learned that Ushta’s favorite foods include fish, chicken, eggs, vegetables, dahi-ni-kadhi, rotlis and tomato flavored potato chips and they are happy to take her favorite meals to the hospital.

We thank all donors once again for their generous donations. We would like to inform all concerned at this time there is no longer a need for any more financial contributions.

The surplus of monies in India will be held until Ushta’s return, just in case the funds may be needed. If they remain unused WZO will contact the appropriate donors for fund options. The monies in USA will be held until Ushta departs for India. Although your donations leave us extremely well placed financially in USA, if there is an emergency and if we need additional funds we will most certainly let you know. To the best of our knowledge and involvement, all the bills in India have been paid in full. All her care related to burns, while she is admitted to the hospital in Boston is also taken care of. Where we may need to step in is for expenses once she is discharged; and there will be expenses related to Ushta and her mother’s return to India. We seem well placed to handle those for now.

We are aware that Ushta’s father Zarir has put in an appeal for funds to go directly to him. To the best of our knowledge, all Ushta’s expenses have been taken care of and absolutely no more funds seem to be needed at this time. We are only in a position to account for funds that have been donated directly through our organizations; unfortunately we are unable to answer any questions in reference to donations you may have sent directly to Ushta’s father.

It has been fabulous to see our community come together for the well-being of this little girl. May Ahura Mazda bless us all and may we always find our way together to help one another!

The Joint FEZANA/WZO Team:

RUSTOM KEVALA

President, FEZANA president@fezana.org

FEZANA Critical Assistance Subcommittee:

HOUTOXI CONTRACTOR, huty.contractor@gmail.com

HOSI MEHTA, hosimehta@aol.com

FREYAZ SHROFF, freyaz@aol.com

SAMMY BHIWANDIWALLA

Chairman, WZO, UK sam@bhiwandi.demon.co.uk

DINSHAW TAMBOLY

Managing Trustee, WZO Trust, India, beedee@vsnl.com