Mangalore: Dogged by Poverty, Mental Illness, Duming Family Seeks Support

Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Sep 4: When I visited the home of Duming Tauro of Modankap Parish I could not help but remember the oft quoted line "When sorrows come they come not in single spies, but in battalions", from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" and even the Chinese proverb "Fortune seldom repeats; troubles never occur alone". Both of them can be related appositely to the situation faced by 70-year-old farmer Duming and his family comprising his wife Magdaline and five children. If it was only poverty they would have somehow surmounted it. Unfortunately for Duming, his cup of woes is brimful and with the passage of time it is overflowing showing no signs of abating. In that tenebrous atmosphere I could only see the forlorn faces of the members of the family who looked as though they were eagerly waiting for the sun to shine brightly to wipe away all their sorrows and sufferings.

Fate has been unkind to Duming who has only witnessed nothing but hardships in life primarily because of his five children three including his only son are mentally challenged. The two daughters who are healthy though married and settled contribute in their own way in taking care of the family. Elder daughter Veronica’s husband is a daily wage worker and they have two children and cannot contribute to the family financially. But Veronica is now back in Modankap with children compelled by the situation to take care of her aged parents and the mentally challenged siblings. 3rd daughter Juliet is working as a teacher in Puttur and has a daughter and it is she who is providing some financial help for the family from her own paltry earnings. Second daughter Jacintha, fourth daughter Emilda and the last and only son Anthony are mentally challenged and need constant assistance and guidance even to lead a normal life.

Jacintha who is now in her 40,s was initially at St Antony’s Ashram at Jeppu and now has been shifted to Nellyadi and hence the family does not have the direct responsibility of taking care of her on a daily basis. Despite his hardships Duming ensures that he brings her home for major festivals like Nativity feast, Easter and Christmas and takes her back after spending a few days with the family.

Apart from being mentally challenged these all the three children cannot speak except for uttering an occasional word. Veronica who has shouldered the responsibility of taking care of her siblings says "Earlier I used to come every now and then to take care of the family. But for the last five years I am staying here with my children as my parents are getting old and by siblings cannot take bath on their own or wash their clothes. We have to assist them to do their work and keep them clean. We need to keep a constant vigil on them as they don’t have the power of reasoning". Apart from this Emelda suffers from bouts of fits and is on medication.

Duming and his wife somehow managed to take care of their children till now by working in their small plot of land and also by working elsewhere as daily wagers. Now with old age approaching and water becoming scarce even to do cultivation Duming’s family is in dire straits not knowing how to carry on with life. It is a pathetic sight to see the old couple and their children coping with their fate trying to find a solution to their miseries.

Duming has about 1 acre of land where he grows rice (one crop), beetle leaves, vegetables, plantains and a few coconut trees. He had a pair of buffaloes to till the land to grow rice. It was however, not economical to rear them just for the sake of one crop. "I had to take care of the buffaloes for the entire year just to use them for only two months during the rainy season. Now I cannot till the land and continue the cultivation. Though I am able to do normal work I cannot raise my hands up or carry any load. I cannot go in search for any other work at this age. I fear for the future of my children", says a visibly traumatized Duming.

To add to his cup of woes, Duming is unable to carry on the cultivation due to the scarcity of water, apart from his age-related health condition. With people in the neighborhood opting for bore well haphazardly whatever source of existing water has exhausted completely and people like Duming face the brunt of the irrationality of the people’s judgment or selfishness. Though they have a well in their compound it gets completely dry during summer. During the peak summer months Duming’s family has to depend on their neighbor for water for drinking and domestic purpose for nearly three months. Fortunately, their neighbor John Cutinho has rendered whatever help he can for the family to surmount their water crisis.

Till recently Emelda and Anthony were getting a miserly sum of Rs. 400 every month from the state government and from last month onwards they get Rs. 1000-/ each. But it is hardly sufficient to take care of the mentally challenged children who are in their mid 30’s leave alone the entire family. Magdalene who is also looks haggard and crestfallen recounts with a tremulous voice "till last year we both used to go out to work apart from working in our own land. But now we cannot work like before as old age has taken a toll on our bodies. My daughter gives whatever help she can. But she has to tend to her family also".

Duming recounts that they did not realize anything amiss when the children were small. "All the children were born at home and we did not see anything wrong when they were young. But when they did not walk or speak as normal children do, we took them to Wenlock Hospital and were treated there for more than a month. Though doctors promised they would be alright as they grow, nothing really changed", he narrates. Veronica adds "Emelda was in the Ashram in Mangalore for a few years. Then she got a typhoid attack and was brought home. It is almost 20 years now and she has not gone back. After the typhoid attack she has gone worse".

With uncertain future staring at them the family is in a quandary not knowing where the trajectory of life would take them in due course of time. The family would be greatly benefitted if generous people come forward to lend a helping hand to the family and help them overcome their sufferings.

Account details of Duming:

DUMING TAURO
SB A/C NO:  101201010006667
VIJAYA BANK
BC ROAD

VIJAYA BANK
DHANALAXMI COMPLEX
POST JODUMARGA
B C ROAD, BANTWAL TALUK
D K DIST, KARNATAKA, 574219
Bank Contact: 0825-5232938

IFSC Code: VIJB0001012 (used for RTGS and NEFT transactions)

Contact Number of Duming Tauro: (+91) 9686469745 (Veronica – Daughter).