2011 OCTOBER UPDATE APPEALS

First comes healing ... then, at Champa, hope for the future

It is sometimes easy to take for granted the choices and opportunities we access through education and training.

For many from leprosy-affected families, finding a suitable and sustainable livelihood can present a huge challenge, especially to those living in rural, impoverished areas in India. Old, mistaken beliefs endure, and leprosy can be viewed as a matter of shame and dishonour, long after it has been cured. Employers are often reluctant to offer jobs to anyone known to be associated with the disease, and workers may refuse to work alongside them. Without help, many fall deeper into the grasp of poverty.

The Leprosy Mission's Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in Champa, Chhattisgarh State offers training to those who feel hopeless and cast out. It provides courses for people affected by leprosy, such as computing, diesel mechanics and seri-culture (silk production) lasting between two months and two years.

What makes it so special and vital is that it embraces all of a person's needs. Pride and self-respect are restored through the provision of uniforms and materials. Self-care of desensitised hands, feet and eyes forms a central part of the training, helping to ensure future good health. At the end of the course, each student is helped to find employment, or receives a loan to set up in business.                                                  More

Just £40 will provide for a student for one month; a small price for the riches of opportunity and independence.

Achieving dignified and independent lives.

The Leprosy Mission's Orthopaedic Workshop in Chanchaga, Nigeria does just that - it helps people to stand, by providing high-quality orthopaedic devices for those affected by leprosy and other disabilities. In fact, it achieves much more than that.

The project, near Minna, capital city of Niger State, serves an area where poverty is widespread. Pavements and smooth road surfaces are rare, and potholes are much more the norm, so the workshop provides a vital service, fitting mobility aids. It allows people with impairments to aspire to the dignity of an independent life and to play a full part in community life

Five workshops in the whole of Nigeria, serve a population of 130 million people. Chanchaga Workshop is the only one in Niger State. That's why The Leprosy Mission is investing in the future of its Orthopaedic Workshop, working to make structural renovations to the buildings and investing in staff recruitment and training.              More

Please consider a gift today to support this life-enhancing work.