Our Fight Against Leprosy
Real life
Sheila Gabbot from Buckinghamshire is a volunteer speaker for the Leprosy Mission England and Wales. She delivers talks to WI groups and at church events to raise awareness of their life-saving work. Before the pandemic, she travelled to Nepal with a small group of volunteer speakers to see their work first hand. The experience had a lasting impact on her.
“Watching documentaries does not come close to the reality of the sights, sounds and vibrancy of somewhere like Kathmandu,” Sheila explains. “We saw modern and old juxtaposed: busy traffic, bustling streets then suddenly fields appeared between houses, with goats outside, shrines and temples.
“A few miles away is the oasis of peace that is Anandaban Hospital, the main leprosy referral hospital for Nepal. Here people who would generally be ostracised are treated with dignity, compassion and given loving care. Listening to their stories is humbling, making me appreciate how fortunate we are in the UK to have our healthcare system.”
Leprosy patients have their physical needs attended to, as well as their medical needs.
“It is heart-warming,” says Sheila, “to witness the care and dedication given by staff to those who in some cases are unloved. To see how they learn to walk when their foot-drop has been remedied or use their hands after fingers have been straightened.
“The leprosy patients are the most important people at the hospital – it’s written on a sign and it’s true! There are other departments at the hospital, so this is a place where those affected by leprosy are mixing with those who are not. I thought this was wonderful.
“We visited a clinic run by The Leprosy Mission in Patan where people come to receive their medication and to have check-ups, sometimes travelling long distances over difficult terrain on foot and then by bus. It’s easy to see why people don’t always keep up with their treatment or come for an earlier diagnosis.”
The social stigma that surrounds leprosy puts some people off seeking treatment. When people start to develop symptoms, they might try to hide it. Others can’t afford to take a day off work to go to the clinic, or to take the time they need to rest and heal.
Sometimes people struggle to get accurate diagnoses from local doctors, or to follow proper treatment regimens. The Leprosy Mission aims to help people overcome these obstacles with full support in treating the disease and its effects on their lives.
Sheila saw lives changed. “Members of a village self-help group facilitated by The Leprosy Mission told us how they had been enabled to start again in life. They now have a shop and they keep goats for their livelihood.
“We were welcomed into the home of a person living with leprosy, a lovely two
“People who would be ostracised are treated with dignity and compassion”
room house provided by The Leprosy Mission. They had one room for sleeping and the other for general use. To see people lifted up out of dire situations and set on their feet, to hear what a difference it has made to them, was quite a revelation, even though I had read about these things beforehand.
“I live in a world of 24/7 news coverage, which can be overwhelming, but
Anandaban hospital and the work of The Leprosy Mission in Nepal and other countries brings the light of hope and love to those on the farthest margins of society.
“As for me, I cannot change the world but this visit
reminded me that I can help to change the life of one person – and then another…
“That’s how lives are changed through the work of The Leprosy Mission!”
The Leprosy Mission has had to change the way they work during the pandemic to keep everyone safe, but they are still working hard to improve the lives of people with leprosy, and to ensure that Multi Drug Therapy (the treatment for leprosy) is available to those who need it.
Sheila has continued to raise awareness. “I’ve been doing talks over Zoom during the pandemic,” she explains. “Some people don’t realise that leprosy still exists, they think it’s a disease from 2,000 years ago, which has been eradicated! Today, it’s treatable, but it still exists.”
Some Leprosy Mission hospitals are treating patients with Covid-19. They’ve also been educating people about the virus and how to avoid infection. Meanwhile, emergency food parcels are provided to communities affected by leprosy and the charity is making sure people have food while isolating.
Charlotte Walker, Communications Officer, says, “People living in communities affected by leprosy are usually day labourers, living hand to mouth. Lockdowns imposed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus have been particularly devastating to many people who have been unable to work, so cannot feed their families. Hunger has become a greater threat than coronavirus itself for too many people. The food parcels really do save lives.”