Muzakir

Muzakir pictures (used with permission)

***** Click here for the bank account info for donations *****

Muzakir is a 7-month-old (in Jan-2013) boy in Mauritius, who had suffered from kidney problems all his life, and needed a second kidney operation in December 2012. When he had his first operation, in summer 2012, he happened to be at the same hospital ward with my Finnish friend's daughter (who had to spend a few days in hospital during their trip to Mauritius). My friend Nata and her family became friends with Muzakir and his mother Mala, staying in touch even after returning to Finland.

Muzakir's family had spent all their savings on the child's first operation, so they didn't have enough money to pay for the second operation. I suggested ChipIn or PayPal, to ask for donations online. Mala was willing to try it, and I promised to help. However, it turned out that neither option was possible. ChipIn requires a PayPal account, and it's impossible to confirm a Mauritian bank account on PayPal Mauritius. (The site requires a Routing Number, which is only used in American banks - Mauritian banks use a Swift code instead, but that is not accepted on PayPal Mauritius!) While asking PayPal Mauritius to fix their site mistake, or help us get around it, we wasted many valuable weeks, and eventually it was necessary to put Mala's bank account info online - with her permission, of course.

I would like to thank everyone who has donated towards Muzakir's operation - it's because of you that he was able to have the kidney operation he desperately needed! (He was too small to have the operation in a public hospital, which is why it had to be done in the private Apollo Bramwell Hospital.)

There was especially one person who wishes to remain anonymous, who decided to transfer all their savings to Mala's account as a private, interest-free loan. The amount was originally larger, but the anonymous angel decided to lower the amount they want back, so..

We will keep asking for donations, to help 
Muzakir's family pay back the €4000.

***** Click here for the bank account info for donations *****

In a way, it may seem like a "waste of money", to send donations to Mauritius, for Mala to send money back to the anonymous angel - the banks will pocket a lot from this! But unfortunately, it is necessary to do it that way, for legal reasons - the loan must be paid back from the same account where the money was transferred to (=Mala's account).

ALL donations are spent on paying back the loan of  €4000, so none of the money will go to any other purpose, and as soon as we have reached the goal and the loan has been paid back, this collection will be over. The anonymous angel is not a wealthy person who could afford to write off all their savings, so I really hope that we can help Mala pay back the loan a.s.a.p. She still needs to stay at home with Muzakir, and her husband's salary is just enough to support their large family, so they do need our help with the loan.

Here is a list of donations received so far;

Click on the picture to see it in full size.
Apologies if it's a bit messy. I'll try to explain it a bit; Mala gets her bank statement in MUR (Mauritian Rupee), so that's what she sends me by email. I then go to XE.com to get USD and EUR versions of the amounts. Due to changes in rates and rounding the amounts up or down, there could be slight variation to the amounts sent, but hopefully everyone will find their donation from the list. I have blurred out the names as I want to respect people's privacy.

If anyone would like to make sure that their 2012 donation has gone through, feel free to email me, mention your name and the amount you donated, and I will check the list I've received from Mala. NOTE: For all future donations, please email me that information (name & amount) as it makes it so much easier to follow up on donations going through. You will find my email address linked on the bank info page.

***** Click here for the bank account info for donations *****

See also: Muzakir-tagged blog entries

PS, Comments will appear after I've accepted them, in case anyone is wondering.

13 comments:

  1. My bank does transfers to many countries but not to Mauritius. Hoping for the best despite what seems a host of practical difficulties!

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    1. Anne, thanks for trying, anyway - maybe you could help by sharing the link to all your friends, and asking them to share it on? (Some of them must be in countries where bank transfer to Mauritius is possible..) =)

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  2. I've just donated USD 100 towards Muzakir's operation via bank transfer from my bank in Sweden and share your fervent hope that we can make this happen. /Johanna

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    1. Thank you so much, Johanna! =)

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    2. I left a comment on Facebook, but I am replying here as well - your donation seems to have gone through. The amount matches one of the donations that didn't have a name on it, on Mala's list. Thank you! =)

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  3. I transferred 100 € from my bank in Finland, and I really hope it gets there in time and that Muzakir gets the care he needs!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rasmus! =)

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    2. Your donation has gone through. Thank you =)

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  4. Are you still having problems with PayPal? I can't send money to Mauritius from my bank account. So frustrating!

    Is there any other way?

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    Replies
    1. We had to forget PayPal (see 7th December update, above), because it wasn't possible to add a bank account, and they never replied to my second message.

      Unfortunately, a bank transfer is the only safe way of making a donation. Of course, Mala's name and address are listed above, so sending cash is an option, but I can't recommend doing it as it's not a very safe method of sending money. (IF anyone wants to risk it, it's probably best to send USD - since MUR could be hard to get, and register the letter. But there's no guarantee that it will get there.)

      I think Western Union could be an option as well, if anyone wants to wire money to Mala, but I don't remember what information they require as it's several years since I've wired money anywhere or received any in such way. It's also quite expensive, I think.

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  5. The current situation with donations looks like this;

    EUR 100 received before any donations were mentioned online
    USD 100 Joc / Johanna (blog comment)
    EUR 100 Rasmus S (blog comment)
    USD 350 (private message)
    EUR 100 (Nata's friend / private)
    *** ? Sofia S (tagged Joulun ihme in FB post)

    If your donation is missing from this list, leave a comment, or send a private message if you'd prefer to remain anonymous.

    I am mainly listing these to get an idea how much more is needed, and to follow up and make sure that every donation will get there.

    (I reposted this comment as I'd mistakenly listed EUR 350 when the actual amount was USD 350.)

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  6. I just tried to transfer 100Euro from Finland, too. I hope it helps. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much - it will definitely help! =)

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