Sion’s Good Samaritan heads to Mahad

The women’s relief packets included sanitary pads, antiseptic soap, ORF packets, sanitisers, hand wash and paracetamol

A Mumbaikar, who has been distributing food packages to patient's relatives at Sion Hospital, is now travelling to Mahad to help those badly affected by the floods in the region. The 40-year-old Sion resident, Kailash Shahani, left for Mahad early on Saturday morning with relief packages, which included food essentials, sanitary pads and other daily essentials.

"I have been watching the devastating videos of the flooding in Mahad. I did contribute to a couple of NGOs, who were working here, but I wanted to do something beyond that," said Shahani.

Before leaving, he got in touch with locals in Mahad to understand the ground reality. He learnt that many residents still needed milk, ration, and other hygiene materials urgently.

"A lot of food was coming in, but nothing for women's hygiene. Our relief packets for women included sanitary pads, antiseptic soap, ORF packets, sanitisers, hand wash, paracetamol and whatever we could think a woman will need to tackle hygiene issues," said Shahani. While he distributed 100 such packets to women, he also distributed 50 ration kits and food for animals.

"We knew we can't cater to the entire Mahad region. With the help of local contacts, we found 50 families whose houses were completely destroyed in the flood and the ration kits were given to these families," he said.

Shahani said that while a lot of support has been coming from administration and the NGOs, it is the people of Mahad who have taken on the challenge to rebuild their lives. "It was disturbing to see the situation. People have been cleaning up their streets and houses on their own. It is going to take a lot of effort and time for them to get back to the pre-flooding days."

During the relief work, he met a young man who lost his wife and home in the floods. "He is devastated with the loss of his partner, but he is still out there trying to help his community and others. His attitude is encouraging and commendable."

50
No. of families from Mahad whom Shahani helped