Food Distribution in Leprosy Colony on World Leprosy Day

In observance of World Leprosy Day, Believer Eastern Church Mission Province of Purulia reached out to the residents of a leprosy colony with cooked meals on 30 January 2022.

Though leprosy is a curable disease, due to the stigma around the disease, leprosy patients are treated as outcasts by their own societies and are often left to fend for themselves. World Leprosy Day is celebrated each year to spread awareness about the disease and call for an end to leprosy-related stigma and discrimination.

On this day, a team under the leadership of the Women’s Fellowship in-charge of the diocese visited this leprosy colony where they served freshly cooked meals to more than 60 leprosy patients. For those who were unable to come and collect food, a Sisters of Compassion team visited their homes personally to deliver food at their doorstep. They also went the extra mile to give free hair cut to those in need.

Haricharan Mahato, aged 82, said, “I am very much thankful to Believers Eastern Church for loving us and helping us in our time of need.”