Children unaware mother died while they were hospitalized

Two young siblings lie side-by-side in a hospital bed in Bandarban, Bangladesh, battling measles, fever, and exhaustion. They are unaware that their mother, Lengrung Mro, 26, will never return. She died on July 29 after falling ill herself while caring for her children, Kainwai, 2, and Dongwai, 4, at Bandarban Sadar Hospital.

Lengrung had brought her children to the hospital on July 26. While tending to them, she suddenly collapsed. Doctors advised transfer to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, but the family, citing poverty and language difficulties, opted for traditional treatment in their village. Lengrung's husband, Krongsong Mro, 28, who has limited Bangla, feared the cost of treatment in Chattogram. He stayed with the children at the hospital, leaving his wife to return home with her father-in-law.

Lengrung died on the journey back. Her funeral followed the next day. Krongsong, now also ill with a fever, remains at home. The children's 19-year-old uncle, Krongtong Mro, now cares for them at the hospital. The remote Ruma upazila area faces a measles outbreak, exacerbated by poor transport, poverty, and limited vaccination, leaving ethnic communities like the Mro particularly vulnerable. The hospital currently treats 24 measles patients, including 15 children.

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My elder brother, Krongsong Mro, 28, cannot speak Bangla well. He heard that treatment in Chattogram would be very expensive. So instead of taking his wife there, he decided to return to the village for traditional treatment, leaving the two children in my care.