Ananya Mankari, our Champion of the month  

This month, Ananya Mankari, gets our Champion of the month award that is awarded every month under our HOPE project to help the beneficiaries cope up with the stress related to cancer treatment and to boost their morale to fight the trauma related to disease.

The event took place on 29th October 2014 at the Holy Spirit Hospital, along with other members of HSH and Mumbai SMiles. Ananya’s story is unique and different. She is 9 years old and at this young age, she had to cope up with Acute Lymphoblastic leukemi, a type of Blood Cancer. She was living with it since 2009 and her treatment was recently completed in 2012. Post 2012, her follow up sessions take place regularly. Ananya is now fit and ready to pursue her education and other hobbies just like other children. She has in fact been awarded scholarship under our HOPE project that will enable her to continue her education.

The celebrations started with a warm greeting from Mr. Narendra Kumar, EDI Mumbai Smiles. He welcomed all the guests and gave a short introduction about Mumbai Smiles. Ananya’s mother then thanked Holy Spirit Hospital for their services and Mumbai Smiles for their continual support in all areas. This support has helped in reducing stress of Ananya’s parents and allowed Ananya to continue her education. Finally, the celebration ended with a cake ceremony and Ananya was awarded with a small souvenier by Dr. Khana and Mr. Narendra Kumar. Members from Mumbai Smiles team – Supriya, Dhvani and many others organised this entire event and made it a success.

Ananya’s mother shared her feelings at this moment – ” It was a very great event for my daughter and we are really enjoying this moment.”

Mother of Illyas, another beneficiary of our HOPE project, also took initiative and shared her thoughts – “This event was not only a celebration but we got an opportunity to interact with everyone who is part of this big family.”

We look forward to celebrate the victory of many more Champions in the future.

Picture courtesy: Oliver Roura (http://www.oliverroura.com/)