Last Sunday we had a visiting preacher return to St Mary’s Church to talk to us about the work of The Leprosy Mission in India, Nepal, Africa and other economically disadvantaged areas of the world.  Our preacher, Chris Stratta, is the Oxford regional manager for this global Christian charity, and he showed the film of Nagammal, an Indian woman, who first noticed the early signs of leprosy on her face as a young adult.  Her hands and feet became deformed and she had to have them amputated.  Her husband then left her, under pressure from his own family because of the social stigma attached to leprosy.  The physical pain of her condition was exacerbated by the emotional pain of being abandoned.  When terrible floods hit her city of Chennai, Nagammal tried to shelter in her shack from the rising waters, but the flooding grew worse and caused her limbs to become ulcerated and infected from the dirty flood water.

 It was then that she was discovered by The Leprosy Mission supporting people in her area.  They bandaged her wounds and took her to hospital.  Nagammal said, “it was as if Jesus himself had come to visit me”.  After surgery and rehabilitation, her home was fully restored from flood damage by The Leprosy Mission, and she was able to return there to live an independent life.  She was also given advocacy training so that she became confident to make representations to the Indian government for the basic human right to have electricity in her house.  Nagammal is now able to play her part in society and feels that she has the same life opportunities as her neighbours.  She has become a person of hope through the work of The Leprosy Mission.

This film made a deep impression on me, perhaps in part because I visited Chennai with an outreach team back in 2013.  I was struck then by the sheer inequality of wealth, living standards and life opportunity for so many of the inhabitants of that city, even for those living without the additional burden of leprosy.  I also remember the famous occasion seen by millions of TV viewers when Princess Diana, as the patron of this charity, visited a Leprosy Mission hospital in 1989.  She shook hands and touched the bandages of people who were living with leprosy.  She helped them to feel they were important and valued as human beings, and she publicly undermined the myth that leprosy can be spread by touch.  Her simple, humane act brought leprosy to the world’s attention, and she did more to further the cause of The Leprosy Mission in those photographs than years of campaigning could achieve.

Leprosy is a life-changing disease which affects 10 million people in the world, predominantly in countries which don’t have clean water supplies and good sanitation facilities.  You can discover more about the work of this remarkable charity here www.leprosymission.org.uk and you can support their work by buying environmentally friendly cleaning products, Christmas cards and a wide variety of presents and household goods from their online shop https://www.tlmtrading.com/  

People living with leprosy are particularly vulnerable to the worst effects of Covid-19, and we owe it to all the world’s poorest nations to share the availability of vaccines with them.  As India’s healthcare system collapses under the strain of the pandemic, there is a greater urgency than ever to support The Leprosy Mission’s work in their humanitarian aid.  Please consider supporting this charity with your prayers and your giving.

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 16^th June 2021          sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk