Meidil Nongsten..she is a mother too!

Meidil is a single mother to three boys. The eldest, Pyn Kmen Lang is 20 years old. Pynsuk Nongsten is 19 and Marcon is 14 years old. They live in Massar, a village set in the beautiful East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya. Massar spreads over two hills in the region and houses about 600 people. This Nongsten family makes brooms and cane baskets for a living. Nothing unusual. Yet, what sets the family apart from many others is the fact that Meidil, Pyn Kmen and Pynsuk are all deaf and Marcon is losing his hearing by the day.

Meidil Nongsten

This family, like 20 other families of Massar, suffers from post lingual progressive deafness. Pyn Kmen and Pynsuk have only attended school till Nursery. They stopped going to school because they couldn’t hear properly. Macron, the youngest of the three brothers, studied till Class IV. In fact, he also gave his half yearly examinations for Class V. He dropped out after that. Macron feels shy because he doesn’t hear well in class.

As they had already acquired language before their deafness started progressing, Meidil and her two elder sons rely a lot on lip-reading. Meidil is disappointed that all her children are losing their hearing. She thinks that education is very important for everyone. She knows that Marcon is an intelligent child, and she wants him to continue his studies so that he can help his family. Macron being the most educated in the family keeps the accounts and handles all the money.

As a child, Meidil enjoyed going to school herself. She studies till Class I and knows how to read and write. She can sign her name as well. Meidil is completely certain that if someone convinces Marcon to continue his studies, he will have all the support he needs from his family.

Meidil with her sons – Marcon (extreme left) Pynsuk (Middle) and Pyn Kmen (extreme right)

VAANI aims to reach the mothers of children between 0-12 years of age, so that with the early intervention, mothers like Meidil are not left disheartened that their children are shying away from education, from communication, from life.

We hear a lot of stories of courageous mothers who brave all kinds of problems to secure a safe future for their children. Meidil is probably not one of them. She is just one of those mothers who want her children to be able to fend for themselves. She is a scared mother, because she has shared the experience of being deaf with her children. She knows what happens when the world around suddenly goes silent.