[ Karyir Riba ]
ROING, 18 Jul: The first woman Everester from Northeast India, Tine Mena, distributed Covid-19 medical supplies and safety gears to the most interior villages of Lower Dibang Valley and Dibang Valley districts to help the villagers during the pandemic.
Mena said that the distribution was made possible through generous donations from people across the country whom she had guided on various tracking adventures.
Mena recounted how devastated she was when her husband tested positive for the coronavirus. “It was heartbreaking to see him so sick. He had to be put on oxygen support for days and was also referred to the dedicated Covid hospital in Pasighat, where he had to spend some time before recovering and coming home. During that time, I could only feel
scared and helpless, especially with so many deaths occurring because of Covid,” she said.
“The experience made me realize the plight of the families that have to deal with the disease, both mentally and financially,” said Mena.
She said that, after her husband recovered from the virus, she decided that she needed to help others, especially those who are needy, even in the smallest way possible.
Support came in the form of her clients and friends when they saw her post on social media about her husband’s experience with the coronavirus. Mena said that phone calls started pouring in to ask if she needed any assistance, and that she asked her well-wishers to donate Covid-19 medical supplies for needy people of interior villages.
Her clients and friends like Dinesh Anand and family, the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, the Sewa International and RIWATCH, Khinjili, donated supplies worth lakhs of rupees for the mission.
Masks, multivitamins, oximeters and pressure machines were distributed among the villagers of Hunli, Italin, Maliney and Anili. Jumupani Residential School in Desali circle also received these items.
These interior areas were badly affected during this second wave of Covid-19 in the district.
The initiative was supported by the Idu Mishmi Cultural and Literary Society, and Mena’s journey to the interiors was flagged off by the apex body on Thursday.
