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Profiles in Courage / Success Stories
These inspiring accounts of leprosy affected people give us a sense of
the trials and adversities faced by them, in their struggle to carve out
a place for themselves in an uncaring world.
Beacon of Hope
Mesram Yamunabai, of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, developed
leprosy when she was 12 years old. Due to her family’s lack of
awareness, the disease progressed and, over the years, her left hand
became deformed.
As the result of a door-to-door survey, Yamunabai was put on Multi Drug
Therapy and, after a course of seven years, found herself completely
cured.
After her marriage, Yamunabai was ill-treated and rejected by her
husband and soon also lost her father, who had been her only support.
Single-handedly providing for her two sons, as well as her brother,
sister and widowed mother, she bore with immense fortitude the trauma of
abject poverty, the stigma of having had leprosy and the discrimination
of being a woman rejected by her husband...
With a loan of Rs.5000, she set up a small grocery shop and today earns
from Rs.70 to Rs.400 per day. These earnings help her to look after her
extended family and to pay the loan back in installments. Understanding
the anguish of other leprosy affected people she reaches out to help
them, by participating in community health programmes.
From being a pillar of strength for her family, she has become a beacon
of hope and determination for others to follow.
Through Trial to Triumph
At the age of 21 years, Prakash Patil, of Dhulia district in western
Maharashtra, discovered some patches on his face where the hair of his
beard did not grow. But he ignored the signs, even when a friend advised
him to go to the Doctor Bandorwala Leprosy Hospital in Pune for
treatment. The patches soon appeared on other parts of his body.
Prakash immediately left for Pune. At the hospital he was told that he
had leprosy and that if he stayed there for a few weeks, the MDT
treatment to cure him completely would be initiated. Later, he could
continue the medication at home.
Seeing the deformities of some of the patients at the hospital, Prakash
was once again overcome by doubt and denial. Once again he gave in to
his fears of being rejected by his family and society.
Prakash shut down his small motor-rewinding business and began to avoid
the company of those who knew him. But one day, when the loneliness of
his self-imposed exile drove him to confide in his mother, he found a
reservoir of courage and support.
His mother advised him to return to Pune and rigorously follow the
prescribed treatment.
In the course of time, he was fully cured and began to rebuild his life.
In the course of time, he was fully cured and began to rebuild his life.
Today, as a result of his hard work and enterprise, Prakash Patil is
Chairman of a factory that manufactures automobile accessories for Tata
Motors and Kinetic Engineering. The unit is run on the lines of a
co-operative society and all its employees are cured individuals. |
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