Her parents took
her from their home in Nagari in the Chittur district of Andhra Pradesh
to a hospital in Bapatla, 600 miles away, where she was abandoned. She
left the hospital cured of the disease but her deformed hands meant
that she could not obtain a job and had to beg for survival. In the
process she found others in the same situation who had come together
in a leprosy colony nearby.
There she met my father and this is where I was born and lived until
I was sent to the orphanage.
Here I was able to complete High School 10th grade. Life was hard. The
missionaries did not have enough funds to be able to provide the children
with enough food, clothes and shoes. From there I went to a technical
training school for 2 years and qualified as a mechanical fitter.
I successfully applied for a job in the Indian Railways but something
happened which was to be a turning point in my life. As a result I did
not in fact take up the post offered.
In 1978 I was motivated by a Christian missionary to work for people
in several leprosy colonies in Andhra Padesh and Orissa. Just like my
mother, anyone with leprosy had to live far away from the rest of society
and was forced to beg for a living. Because I was working with leprosy
sufferers, many shopkeepers would not serve food to me and my team and
we usually obtained foodstuffs at certain stores and prepared and ate
our meals in the colonies.
We frequently cared for and tended people with bad ulcers caused by
long-distance walking or heavy work with the hands.
The experience of my mother began to shape my ideas for how we should
be helping leprosy sufferers. This approach, I felt, must do more than
treat disease, because it was the attitudes of society towards leprosy
patients that caused more hardships for them than the disease itself.
My mother's experience hurt me deeply and drove me to the belief that
we had to focus much more of our work on changing peoples' attitudes.
We wanted those afflicted with leprosy to be accepted into the communities
where they lived in the same way that those with more common diseases
were accepted.
In 1980 I was trained
as a leprosy smear technician in one of the leprosy training centres
and helped with the care of 2,500 patients in several leprosy colonies.
In 1984, myself
and a few friends, many of whom were cured leprosy patients or, like
myself, children of leprosy patients, established a
Leprosy Research Trust in the Rayagada District of the state of
Orissa to work in the surrounding tribal villages. Our approach was
to treat a range of diseases like cholera, malaria, TB and hepatitis
as well as leprosy.
If we discovered the first signs of leprosy in someone living in a village
and this was not known to other people, then we would treat this in
secret. Often the pretext of investigating the first signs of other
diseases gave us the opportunity to identify and treat those with leprosy.
Rarely did we find people with leprosy at an advanced stage because
they would have been turned out of the village and usually drifted into
leprosy colonies where they lived in appalling conditions. Of course
we also continued to work in these colonies. Gradually we were able
to extend our work to 3,353 villages with the support of LEPRA UK. Most
of our work was focused on the identification and treatment of leprosy,
but we realised that if we wanted to help all the tribal people in this
deprived area we would have to develop a more holistic approach which
addressed all the factors which kept the tribals in a state of poverty.
In 1985 we established the New Hope
Rural Leprosy Trust to develop this approach under the headings
of health, economical development, agriculture, environment and education.
Our work was further expanded to surgical operations for leprosy and
polio deformities and eye cataract operations, when, with funds from
Lepra UK we established a hospital in our compound at Muniguda. A farm
was established a few miles from the site for post operative care and
training for leprosy patients in techniques that will enable them to
prevent further damage to their feet and hands and to increase their
income generating opportunities. Our work has also extended to the care
of aged people in general and 'street' children.
Our operational area expanded in 1999 following a severe cyclone and
tidal wave that hit Orissa's coastline and made thousands of people
homeless. It was difficult to find anyone in the area flooded who had
not lost members of their family.
My wife, Ruth has continuously supported the work of both organisations
and takes a leading role in all activities, especially during my periods
of absence when I am visiting friends and supporters and seeking ongoing
support for our work.
