Meet the faces of the Research Magazine

Amina's Story

Amina is a nurse at TLM Muzaffarpur, where she lives on campus with her husband and father-in-law. She wakes up early to cook for them each morning, and then spends the rest of the day at the hospital checking on patients, serving meals, teaching patients about their health, and providing emotional and spiritual support. Many patients have been isolated from their communities due to their illness, and simply appreciate her willingness to listen.

During the rainy season, it can be difficult for Amina to get to the hospital due to flooding, and sometimes her house loses electricity completely. She has learned to adapt to these unpredictable conditions, however, noting that she simply keeps candles and matches close at hand in case they are needed.

While life at Muzaffarpur can be demanding, Amina maintains a quiet, happy disposition. She is known for her unspoken authority, and patients tend to feel comfortable with her around. She is grateful, she said, that God has given her this chance to help his people. “I can't explain this satisfaction to you. Whatever I am doing for the patient it feels amazing especially when they can’t always do things and I can help … it gives me a different kind of feeling.”

Monihia's Story

Monihia Anotonio lives in Morrucue, Mozambique with her husband, her mother, and 2 of her 3 daughters, where they run a machamba (a small local farm).

When a volunteer from TLM suggested that she get tested for leprosy, she had already been developing symptoms for some time, but because no one else in her community had been diagnosed with leprosy, she did not recognise it.

As she described, “At the beginning I had fever and pain all over the body...When it is growing, the disease already starts to weigh all over the body...Only later I realised what was really happening to my body.”

Mozambique photo credits: Ricardo Franco

She was not afraid when she found out that she had leprosy, but was simply happy to know that her symptoms could be treated. "I knew I was going to be cured,” she explained, “That illness caught me, but I had no conflicts with the neighbours. Nor did I have problems with the family.”

Today, after completing her treatment at the hospital, Monihia no longer has leprosy and has returned to full days of working in the field, going to the well, and washing clothes. Regarding her future aspirations, she says that her main goal is to keep working on her machamba, "creating conditions for the children and the family so that we can live."

She has also joined a self-help group at the local media centre, where they watch videos about public health and learn about the transmission and treatment of leprosy, and she is working to spread awareness of leprosy in her community. As she puts it, “You cannot stay without doing anything. We advise people to go to the hospital with all the respect, without any offence or discussion, because leprosy has a cure.”

Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

This community media centre in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique was built after the Unconditional Appeal of 2021, which received Aid Match funding from the UK government to help end leprosy transmission, disability and discrimination. This funding is being used to build media centres in villages across Cabo Delgado, which will be used as meeting places for self-care groups and educational hubs. Here, people can receive agricultural training, watch films showing health information, and get advice from community health workers. Thus far, the project has been highly successful, with the media centre in Murrocue hosting up to 150 people for film sessions on some days.

Eduardo's Story

Eduardo Gelo was born in Morrocue, Mozambique and currently lives there with his wife and two sons, where he has volunteered with The Leprosy Mission since they first entered the region. As he explained, “I started working as a volunteer a long time ago when the nurses and technicians came and started talking about this disease. Now we are aware of it and we can mobilise other people.”

Eduardo is a leader in his village, and he uses his influence to help his community develop awareness of leprosy symptoms and treatments. In the past, people didn’t understand what leprosy was, he said, and sometimes they thought that it was simply burns or spots on the skin. Since they didn’t receive treatment, many would end up with deformities.

Today, however, thanks to the work of organisations such as The Leprosy Mission and dedicated leaders such as Eduardo, many more people understand what leprosy is and receive treatment before they develop impairments.

“I am very proud of this kind of legacy that I am going to leave here,” Eduardo said. “Now that I have white hair, I am fine and I can leave at any time because I know that other generations will continue this work.”

Also pictured: Elisa, 5 years old

TLM Nepal's Patan Clinic is located in an urban part of Lalitpur, Nepal, and has been running extended leprosy and general services since 2012. Since then, the number of general cases coming for treatment has been increasing, with dermatology and orthopaedic consultations being the most prominent. Patients are referred to Anandaban Hospital for further specialist treatment from the clinic.

The Patan Clinic, Nepal

Kobita's Story

Kobita is an eight-year-old girl growing up in the tea gardens of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Her home is nestled among the leafy plants that thrive in the heavy rains. Up a small track from the main road is a small courtyard of four houses. Chickens scratch at the dirt and optimistic goats look for their next meal.

One of the buildings here is Kobita’s home. Her family of seven live in a single room with mud walls. There’s no electricity, so it is almost pitch black at night. In the monsoon season, the rain thunders on the corrugated metal roof, and the heat and humidity make it almost impossible to sleep. The whole family share one bed.

Kobita is the youngest of five daughters. She loves playing Ludo with her older sisters and teasing them; she is a typical younger sibling. Kobita’s father, Lokkhindor, and her mother, Santi, both work, but the family is very poor. Lokkhindor is a security guard at the tea gardens and Santi is a tea picker, occasionally joined by her elder daughters when they can get a shift there too.

Only Kobita and one of her other sisters go to school. The other three daughters had to drop out to support the family. It was Kobita’s teacher who first realised she had leprosy when they noticed a discoloured patch on her face. Kobita went to one of The Leprosy Mission's skin camps and a few days later a medical team visited her at home. Kobita was tested for leprosy and the family waited anxiously for the results.

Photo Credit: Ruth Towell

Santi had the fear every mother would experience as she waited to hear her child’s fate. She was unable to avoid the question that kept pushing its way to the front of her mind. If Kobita is diagnosed with leprosy, how will we cope? What will her future look like? Will she be able to get married? When the results arrived, they were exactly what Santi feared. Kobita had leprosy.

Santi immediately felt shame and anxiety about her Kobita’s future. But when Lokkhindor found out about his daughter’s illness, he was pleased. He was relieved that his daughter had been spared the pain caused by undiagnosed leprosy. Lokkhindor knows, raising his family in the tea gardens, that leprosy is rife here. It can feel like simply a matter of time before your family is affected. He has seen neighbours and friends diagnosed late, making full recovery impossible. And he has seen people whose nerves are badly damaged by the disease. Their hands are so clawed that they can no longer work. Some people also lose their sight, and with it their independence.

When the family were told of all the support they would receive from The Leprosy Mission, their overwhelming response was gratitude. They were grateful that Kobita was being treated by specialists. And grateful that she was quickly given Multi Drug Therapy, the antibiotics that cure leprosy. This lifted from the family a financial burden they would have been unable to carry.

Today, Kobita is doing well at school. She wants to get a job in the tea gardens one day so that her parents don’t need to work when they are old. Now that she has been cured of leprosy, she can live a full life and realise her parents’ dreams for her. And Santi is just so pleased that her youngest daughter is back to teasing her sisters!

Maya's Story

Maya’s mother had recently lost her husband to Tuberculosis when her 7-year-old daughter began to show symptoms of leprosy, and she was terrified by the prospect of losing her daughter too.

To make matters worse, their family home was then destroyed during a flood, and they had to move in to Maya's uncle's house, where they faced discrimination from his daughter-in-law due to Maya's illness.

As Maya’s symptoms grew worse, her mother became increasingly concerned: Maya's hands were clawed, marks started appearing on her face, and eventually she was forced to leave school. Fortunately, however, Maya received treatment from TLM Nepal before any permanent symptoms had occurred, and soon began to show major health improvements.

Today, Maya has returned to school with her sisters, and she is committed to gaining an education so that she can get a job and help her family to rebuild their home. She still has a scar on her face, but she maintains a positive attitude and has made many new friends at school. As she told a volunteer, “I am very thankful and feel very happy that I will be fully cured."

Maya’s persistent hope and resilience in the face of frightening illness and loss are truly inspiring.