Singjamei 360 raises Rs 2.4 lakh to help displaced student
Source: Chronicle News Service / Niranjan Oinam

Imphal, October 08 2023: As Ronald Thoudam, son of Prem Thoudam of Kangpokpi Ward No 2, is on the verge of losing the chance to sit the last semester examination for BSc Nursing, Singjamei 360, a Facebook Page, crowdsourced Rs 60,000 and helped him to pay his semester fee, which has a deadline of October 9.His family is presently staying in the relief camp set up at Manipur Trade and Expo Centre, Lamboi Khongnangkhong after being displaced due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the state.

Ronald Thoudam is pursuing B Sc Nursing at Prajwal College of Nursing, Bangalore.

The college committee, despite the situation his family is facing, is demanding him to pay the fee by October 9, failing which he would be barred from appearing in the last semester examination.

His father Prem (50) is a head mason, who has been in the job since the last three decades.

Ronald has three younger siblings including a sister, who is also undergoing a 6-month makeup training course in Bangalore.

After Kuki mob vandalised and burned their house on May 4, Prem, his wife Sangeeta and two sons took shelter at the SP's quarter.

From there, they were taken to Lairou army camp where they stayed for three days before being handed over to Sekmai police station.

They then stayed in a relief camp at Sekmai for around one month.

As the relief camp was a school and govern ment issued order for reopening schools, they shifted to Lamboi Khongnangkhong.

One of the two sons in the relief camp is now studying in class 12 at Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School while the other son, youngest of all, is studying in class 4 at Tondonsana High School.

Talking to The People's Chronicle, Prem Thoudam recounted that he had only Rs 1600 when he fled home.

Before the violence started, he paid Rs 35,000 out of the Rs 95,000 semester fee for his son Ronald.

Seeing no hope of paying the remaining fee of Rs 60,000, he and his wife had no idea whom to approach for help.

His wife spent her time in the relief camp weeping and they were not in the mood to interact with the people visiting the relief camp for help including those who wanted to talk to them.

He tried his luck by asking some of his friends for assistance and even met the DC, Imphal West but could not get any help.

As the last date for the remaining semester fee was set on October 9, he was worried that years of efforts he and his family put in will go in vain.

He was also in no position to get any work.

In the morning of October 7, one of his brother in-laws gave him the phone number of Singjamei 360 and told him to ask if they could do anything to help.

Left with no other option, he reluctantly called and talked with the people behind Singjamei 360.The team arrived at the relief camp a little after 4 pm on Saturday and he told them everything about their condition and their helplessness.

The team assured of helping him and encouraged his family not to get disheartened.

The Singjamei 360 team shared his story along with a photo of his son Ronald and his (Prem's) GPay number on their Facebook Page around 6.17 pm on Saturday.

A few minutes later, one Ch Bimolata transferred Rs 10,000 to his G-Pay account and he was both happy and shocked on seeing a complete stranger helping him with that much amount.

Till 8 am of Sunday, he has received several donations ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 10,000 and the total amount reached around Rs 2.4 lakh.

In the night too, many people called and encouraged him saying that they will help him in whatever way they could.

One person sent Rs 5000 and called to tell him that he will donate more if he could not accumulate Rs 60,000 and asked him to call him in the morning.

Thanks to the generosity of those strangers, his son will now be able to complete his education, he said while expressing gratitude to those, who helped him and got him out of this predicament.

Prem further said that he always want and try to help others.

Before the crisis, he and his wife would often help elders with rice, vegetables and others in Kangpokpi.

Saying that his son Ronald also has the same heart of helping others, he narrated one instance in which his son, while studying in class 9, returned home from school with his inner vests and a half-pant after donating his school uniform to a poor student.

It must be the Karma of his family's willingness to help others that they are getting such huge support in this trying times, he said.

Prem also said that he and his wife always wanted to give the best education to their children since both of them did not receive proper education.

Prem further told TPC that apart from helping his son Ronald, the Singjamei 360 team enquired about the dream of his two sons and made arrangements for pursuing what they want.

He will remain indebted to Singjamei 360, its team and the generous people, who helped him, he added.

He also narrated a conversation with Uripok Apunba Lup, to whom he had approached three days ago for help.

However, they told him about the time limitation and asked him why he is approaching them in such short notice.

They, however, assured of doing whatever they could to gather contribution by sharing his condition on their WhatsApp Group, and provided him Rs 21,100 on Sunday morning, he said, while thanking the organisation for their assistance.

Besides, organisations like Wings of Hope and Bangalore Manipuri Association also donated Rs 3000 and Rs 9000 respectively, for which he is grateful to them.

"I have never shed tears in all my years, even in the face of my mother passing away, as my neighbours would often remark.

But today, within the confines of the relief camp, my days are spent in tears as memories of the events of May 4 flood my mind, knowing that all my belongings have been lost.

Tears flow when I struggle to find a way to pay my son's semester fee.

Yet today, my tears are different.

They are tears of joy, knowing my son will be able to take his final semester exams.

They are also tears of gratitude, witnessing the generosity of compassionate individuals," were his parting words to TPC before I left the relief camp.

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