The Faces of the Magazine

Around age 19, Santosh had his left leg amputated, and by age 20, he became a double amputee. "Because of the wound, I was suffering for so long, so I was happy when it was amputated, as I was free from the pain."

Apart from the physical pain, Santosh has experienced emotional abuse in the workplace. He has struggled with rude customers and unrealistic expectations from his employers. Because of this, Santosh has had to find a way around this employment issue to provide an income for himself and his family. Although money is tight, he hopes to buy milking buffalos, so that he and his mother could sell milk in the local village.

Since 2019, Santosh has experienced every pain imaginable, but with the help of Anandaban Hospital, Santosh has received support and care in many areas of his life. The hospital was able to build him a brick home on land that his family owns. With two new artificial legs, he has also received a motor scooter with specially adapted stabilisers to help him with balance.

Santosh has received so much love from his community and now his wife Manju who is also disabled and has cerebral palsy and their baby daughter. He is widely loved by everyone around him and is known to be smiley and positive.

When visitors come to see Santosh, he is always surrounded by friends and family from the village, and he is clearly a very popular young man. So much of the first 20 years of his life was spend in and out of hospitals, but he never lost hope, and now, he is beginning to see some of ‘life in all its fulness.’

Santosh's Story

Santosh was just four years old when he experienced his first symptom of leprosy, an ulcer on his foot. The medical hospitals where he and his mother lived in eastern Terai were unable to diagnose him at the time. He received medications that did not change his symptoms and continued without a solution. Santosh was finally diagnosed with leprosy at Biratnagar around the age of 10 or 11, but by that time, he had stopped going to school because of the growing wound on his foot.

Santosh was admitted to Lalgadh leprosy hospital 12 times. He recalls, "I've spent most of the last 10 years in hospital. But I really like it here [at Anandaban]. It's a good place; they give good service to me... I chat with the other patients, and we listen to music."

Kuntula's Story

Kuntula and her daughter are one of many people struggling to live in Odisha. In a forgotten community on the edge of society, people affected by leprosy are barely surviving. Being shunned by their surrounding communities means recourses are slim and disease spreads easier. Just like Kuntulas daughter, leprosy affects multiple generations, causing children to be shunned from their first breath.

In Odisha, necessities for life such as clean drinking water and healthcare are hard to come by. Everyone bathes in the same river that they drink from and infections go untreated. Treatment is almost non-existent in many of the colonies across Odisha. Without safe drinking water or doctors to intervene, wounds become ulcers which lead to disabilities.

The homes they live in are not suitable for anyone, let alone people wounded and affected by leprosy. Roofs are caving in and water seeps through every crack, creating a damp home, infested with bacteria, mosquitos, and other creatures. Access to a toilet means traveling across a field many times in the darkness of night.

Resources that we receive and take for granted every day, people in Odisha are unable to reach. Children never know clean water or comfortable homes, and their dreams of a better future feel far out of reach.

In Odisha, there is no regular work for someone affected by leprosy, instead, they must beg to keep their children fed. And unfortunately for many people, this is all they've ever known.

Across Andhra Pradesh, children are faced with struggles they should never have to know. Because of HIV, Leprosy, and poverty, they are forced to beg on the streets, sleep on the side of the road, and even end up orphans.

Brighter Future is an organisation committed to creating a better life for these children. Their vision is a world without prejudice towards any disease or age group.

To do this, Brighter Future started Rainbow Children’s Home in Vizianagaram, a place for children to rest, learn, and receive physical and emotional care. They now house 80 children at Rainbow Children's Home.

"Whatever their background, we know that every little life has so much potential. We believe that every child deserves a brighter future."

Over the last three years Brighter Future has seen more than 50 children's lives transformed in education, more than 30 leprosy colonies received safe drinking water, streetlights, roads and drainage systems, and more than 50 children of Leprosy background got Vocational training and employment in different companies.

Through the help of sponsors, these children receive all the resources they need to build a better future. Many of these kids continue all the way through university, learning to become doctors, nurses, and engineers.

Angel's Story

The Farinciki Project

"Now, I can see brightness in many things that I couldn't see before."

Halima is a 16-year-old Nigerian girl, who lost almost everything to leprosy. She faced grief, depression, hatred from others, and hopelessness. But things began to change when she met Sadia, an adopted grandmother in the Farinciki Project.

When The Leprosy Mission began the Farinciki Project, this small Nigerian village of orphans and people affected by leprosy experienced stigma and isolation from the surrounding villages. Just like Halima, from a very young age, these kids experienced the weight of leprosy in every area of their lives.

Sadia and many of her friends are working to change this narrative for these young people affected by leprosy.

Through the Farinciki Project, TLM has been able to train women like Sadia as "adopted grandmas," teaching them to notice the signs of someone struggling, and showing them how to help. These grandmas have become people that these kids can rely on and trust.

Halima, along with the rest of the children, get to meet regularly with their adopted grandmas, learning how to sew, and gaining skills to combat the effects of leprosy, stigma, and grief. They are gaining awareness about mental health, coping strategies, and receiving support to manage the challenges they face because of leprosy. Through these women, TLM has been able to transform the lives of young people affected by leprosy.

But there are so many others like Halima, who need these recourses. They need someone to talk to and to help them manage these emotions as they go through this disease. With your help, that is made possible.