A wish come true

What would you ask for if you and your family were granted one wish?

To go anywhere and do practically anything?

Sheradia Linton, a 15-year-old sophomore from Havre High School, was faced with that question. Not in the abstract but in real life.

Rather than throwing out a pitch at a baseball game or meeting a celebrity, she chose to travel to India and briefly live and learn alongside a group of disabled and disadvantaged children from some of that country's poorest slums.

Sheradia said she had always been interested in India.

Her mother said that Sheradia, who has volunteered with the Special Olympics, "has always had a heart for orphans and special-needs kids."

What Sheradia described as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" was made possible by Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that aids children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Sheradia was diagnosed in August 2014 with Burkitt's Lymphoma, a type of cancer affecting the lymph nodes resulting in a tumor that can double in size within 18 to 24 hours.

Rayminda, Sheradia's mother, said that after undergoing aggressive chemotherapy along with receiving some alternative treatments, Sheradia's symptoms have been in remission since last December.

"She's been doing great. She has totally exceeded all the doctor's expectations," Rayminda said.

Doctors had expected possible long-term damage to her organs before she underwent the chemotherapy, but all tests done on Sheradia to detect such damage have since come back negative.

When she was undergoing treatment, Sheradia was paid a visit by someone from Make-A-Wish Montana and asked what she wanted the opportunity to do.

At the time, Sheradia, said she did not know what she wanted to do.

Eventually, Sheradia decided she wanted to go to India and work with special-needs children.

Make-A-Wish Montana in conjunction with Make-A-Wish North Dakota made that happen for Sheradia and her family, Rayminda, Sheradia's father, Scott "Scooter," and her 14-year-old sister, Zephanhia "Zephy." The organization paid travel expenses, organized the trip and made the reservations for them to stay at the Lalco Residency, a hotel in Mumbai.

"Make-A-Wish spoiled us, " Rayminda said.

Through bake sales held by Sheradia and her sister, the two girls took with them $3,000 and two suitcases of supplies that included soccer balls, backpacks and other items for the children. Some of the money was also used to buy modeling clay at the request of the school.

The four departed for Great Falls International Airport in their Subaru Outback Nov 28, arriving in Mumbai, India, with connections in Seattle and Dubai.

Though she knew she would be working with children with disabilities, Sheradia and her family said she didn't know what school she would be going to or what activities she would be engaging in with the children.

The family ended up at the Special Care Center, a school run by Save Our Children India. It serves the needs of children who are blind, deaf and have mental disabilities.

The school provides these children with meals and basic education and equips them with a variety of skills.

"We kind of toured around the place and hung out with kids. We we're actually mostly in the art room and made projects with some of the kids," Sheradia said.

Many in India falsely believe that those who are blind, deaf or mute can infect other people with their disability. The school, Rayminda said, works to dispel that myth.

"I was very surprised and impressed by the special-needs school, what they do with the kids and just how well they equip these kids to be able to support themselves later in life. Just the education they give them," Rayminda said.

Together with the children and staff they made pottery, learned sign language and participated in sports day, where the children compete in a series of sporting events.

"They were really fun to watch and see their excitement about everything," Sheradia said.

In the afternoon and at night the family would also go sightseeing throughout the city, but it was memories of the people they met that stayed with them long after the trip ended: the groups of students and the art teacher who was deaf and mute. They also got to meet young girls who with the Save Our Sisters program, which helps young girls who were victims of sex trafficking.

Some of the girls, between 13 and 18, had children, Rayminda said. Many of them had been sold into sex slavery by their parents for as little as $3 a day.

Sheradia was surprised by the glaring economic inequality in India.

"When you drive through Mumbai, there's these tall buildings and businesses and then right next to it would be all these slum buildings and all that," Sheradia said.

The family returned from their adventure Dec 7.

After traveling to India, Sheradia said she hopes one day to go back to India or somewhere else abroad, perhaps as part of YWAM or Youth With A Mission, a missions based youth organization.

Scooter and Rayminda said that, looking back, they are proud of the wish their daughter made and the experience they had in India.