India, Sept. 14 -- A 17-year-old tribal boy named Punyo Dhan Chakma, s/o Sangah Kumar, resident of far-flung Golasury village in the Lawngtlai district of south-western part of Mizoram, is fighting for his life. It's not because his disease is incurable, but because his parents, who are extremely poor, cannot afford the treatment. Recently, he was taken to a hospital in Lunglei, but the doctors there advised his parents to take him to Aizawl for surgery. He has been suffering from brain tumor, which is rapidly spreading to his eyes, and his health is deteriorating day by day.
Punyo Dhan's parents are Jhum cultivators (shifting cultivation or slash and burn method of cultivation). The family lives hand to mouth and does not have the money f...