From the Desk of Leenus, the Fonder of the Leevin

I was born in Anaiyeri Tamil Nadu, India. I was the 7th child in my family. My parents are my inspiration, and my mom always taught me to help others so that God will take care of me. My dad always helped school kids, church and the community more than his own family. I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers. My father is a retired principal & village chief. My mother is a house wife. My mom spent most of her time with farm workers. I used to help a lot of families since my school days. I am married to Vincent Thiag, and we have 2 children. I have a loving family. Cynthia is 15 years old and the eldest, and Olivia the youngest who is 10 years old. My husband and my kids are very supportive in every corner of my life. Without my husband and my kids I can’t do anything in my life. When I was little I used to get sick all the time. There were no hospitals or clinics close to my village so my parents sent me with other people to take me to the hospital to a town which is 3 miles away from my village by bicycle or by bus. A lot of people died by snake bites, diarrhea, vomiting, and heart attacks & by drowning in the water because there were no medical people to help them right away. Since I was little I wanted to open a small clinic to help and protect people of my village and also surrounding areas from such incidents. When I was 17 years old I taught adult education in my village, I took the grown ups to places like the sugar factory, movie theaters, and restaurants to expose them to see the real world. When I was in nursing school, one of my village girls was supposed to have an open heart surgery. Her family couldn’t afford it, so I went and talked to the chief surgeon in the cardiology department to help her with the surgery. When I first asked my husband if we could start a clinic, the first thing my husband said was “Well if you want to do it, you can do it with your hard earned money, but never ask any money from anybody! If you can’t do it by yourself then don’t do it!” So that’s what I have been doing for the last two years, and this is the third year we’re doing this with our own money. In this economy, it is very hard to continue doing what I’m doing right now. So I tried to convince my husband to understand how hard it is to support twenty school kids for education, clinic expenses, medication expenses, rent, electricity, water, salaries for doctor/nurses, etc. Finally my husband told me he wasn’t happy that we had to ask for help but he said to go ahead and do it as per wish and that he would support me in every way he possibly can. I didn’t want to close the clinic that I have always dreamt of.  I’m pretty sure with all your prayers, support, generosity and kindness we can make a difference!