Meet the faces of TLM's Research Magazine

Meet the faces of our Research Magazine

Throughout this edition of our Research Magazine, you have seen the faces of persons affected by leprosy and persons with disability. Their photos have been used to illustrate the points being made in the articles and to help you to connect with what we were saying.

Of course, there are real people behind those photos, so we wanted to give you a chance to read about their lives so that they become more than just a photo.

Leprosy is a complex disease and everyone's experience is different. As a consequece, some of these stories are happy and others are sad. All are the reality of leprosy.

Kornana Pydamma, India

Kornana has four children and two grandchildren. She always wanted to look after and raise her children and looks forward to doing the same for her grandchildren.

She first encountered leprosy when she was newly married, “After I got married, I developed some patches on my body, someone referred me to The Leprosy Mission’s hospital and there I had treatment for five years. I developed loss of sensation on my hands and feet. Whenever I cooked, I would get blisters.”

While her neighbours don’t discriminate against her, she still doesn’t go to any social occasions in the wider community. “I used to go to all of the ceremonies, like weddings and all that, and although they invite me, I don't go because of my disease and the condition of my hands and feet. I worry what they will think of me.”

Photo credit: Sabrina Dangol

Momen, Bangladesh

Momen is the son of a farmer and the youngest of three siblings. He was diagnosed with leprosy in 2019

“There were small spots on my body from the age of seven but I never paid much attention to those. My fingers curved from when I was nine; it was painful. At first, I went to different hospitals but they couldn’t find out what my disease was. Then my grandmother told me to go to a hospital she knew of, and they diagnosed me with leprosy. Then they sent me to another hospital but there was no treatment there. So they told me to come to this hospital in Nilphamari.

“Most people stayed away from me. I used to play football and cricket. But I couldn’t play because of this disease. I felt very sad, but I gave myself the courage to overcome this. I cannot go to my grandmother’s house. My uncles love me but my aunts don’t. Some people love me and some don’t.

“I want to live by myself and work. My life is still beginning, it’s not over. I have more courage than any other boys of my age.”

Photo credit: Fabeha Monir

Maria Magalenssa, Mozambique

Maria is a farmer who grows cotton and corn and is a married mother of ten children, five of whom have sadly died. On the day these photos were taken, Maria was diagnosed with leprosy.

“I didn't know what this stain was, I went to other health centers, they gave me pills but nothing happened. Today in the consultation with Gabriel the technician I took the first pills of the treatment and I was informed how I should take the medicines. I learned that leprosy is not contagious by touch but by the droplets that come out of our mouth. I also learned that the disease has a cure, if I take the medicines and do the treatment correctly I will be cured.”

Photo credit: Ricardo Franco

Abubakar Yahaya Umar, Nigeria

Abu is in his twenties now, but he first noticed symptoms of leprosy when he was nine. After three years of trying herbal medicines, he was told about the leprosy hospital in Chanchaga. In this photo he was aware that his leg would need to be amputated soon.

"My father left us because he was ashamed of my leprosy. I'm so sad about that. Life is difficult for us now. We live with my grandmother and my mother makes peanut cakes to sell in the village. There's no running water, which makes it difficult to clean the cuts on my hands and feet. We have to walk several kilometres to a borewell.

"I cant feel my anything on my hands and feet, so I injure myself. I'd love to be able to do normal things like others my age. But I can't. It makes me cry sometimes.

"The ulcer on my leg was caused by a burn. A lamp fell on the bed while I was sleeping and engulfed my leg. It's really painful. When I heard I was going to lose my leg I was in shock. How would I ever live a normal life, or provide for my mother? But now I've seen others at the Orthopaedic Centre with artificial legs, I know I still have a future.

“When I am healed, by the Grace of God I would love to learn a trade. I want to look after my mum and help others.”

Saida Yunusa, Nigeria

Saida is from Niger State and has a business where she makes hair and applies henna. She first had symptoms of leprosy when she was 10 years old.

She hopes that with the aid of a prosthetic limb, she will be able to continue with her business. In this photo she is pictured with the staff of TLM Nigeria at the opening of their new office in Abuja.

Fatema Begum

Fatema is in her fifties and has been living with the consequences of leprosy for twenty years.

“Twenty years ago, I first found my skin swollen. My whole body was burning in pain, and it’s like someone has poured hot oil underneath my skin. The word leprosy was related to stigma, fear, and abandonment. I have seen how villagers abandoned women with leprosy and left them alone in the hut. In my biggest nightmare, I could never think of this disease. But that was my suffering, my ultimate exposure to the disease.”

A self-help group, Bangladesh

These photos are from a self-help group in a tea estate in the north east Sylhet region of Bangladesh.

The members of this group are meeting together and drinking tea.

We included these photos because of our work to reach the tea growing communities of Bangladesh. This work is an example of the kind of active case finding that the article featured.

Unfortunately, we do not have the names of the women in the photos, but we are nontheless grateful for their smiles and their willingness to share these photos with us.