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COVID-19: HOW YOU FED THE HUNGRY DURING THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC
WE THANK YOU FOR FEEDING US
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TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL YOUR WAYS SUBMIT TO HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT. PROVERBS 3:5-6 NIV
YOU HAVE ENABLED HEALTH MESSAGING TO BE TAKEN TO COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY LEPROSY TO PROTECT THEM FROM COVID-19. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL DISTANCING AND KEEPING GOOD HAND HYGIENE HAS BEEN RELAYED AS WELL AS THE NEED TO SELF ISOLATE WITH SYMPTOMS.
join us for a special day of prayer. Together we asked the Lord for His protection over the communities we serve in Asia and Africa.
Dear friend, This year has been one of extraordinary challenge and I am praising God for your faithfulness. Having talked and prayed with many of you over recent months, I am touched by your kindness. Learning of your strength and faith as you faced loneliness and tough situations has been a tremendous encouragement. I was moved to tears by your generosity to those suffering from extreme hunger in Asia and Africa. It confirmed what I have always sensed. You are at the very heart of The Leprosy Mission’s global family. Together we are an unbreakable unit that prays and looks out for one another, whatever the circumstances. As we grappled personally to find our 'new normal', lockdown threatened the very survival of day labourers across the globe. Not being allowed out meant no income and, for many, no food. For millions, hunger became a more immediate threat than Covid-19 itself. The Bible tells us to cast our cares on the Lord and He will sustain us. How thankful we are to serve an amazing God who is with us when the darkness falls. On Ash Wednesday we were blessed that so many of you could
We have witnessed incredible answer to prayer. Through your compassion and generosity hospital patients were fed. Your giving became a lifeline for leprosy-affected communities. You provided emergency food parcels and the delivery of Multidrug therapy, the treatment for leprosy. Because of you, medical teams were mobilised into communities to treat leprosy-caused ulcers. As lockdowns lift and public transport resumes in many areas where we work, there is a rocketing number of patients making their way to our hospitals. Many desperately need ulcer care. If left untreated ulcers caused by leprosy can lead to terrible disability and, tragically, amputation. Your prayers and gifts to meet this essential need are a true blessing. I am excited to tell you there are pioneering developments in the pipeline for ulcer care. I hope you will be as inspired as I am by Dr Indra’s groundbreaking research. It is set to have a life-changing impact for leprosy patients! I cannot thank you enough for your faithfulness to people affected by leprosy and for demonstrating Jesus’ love and compassion during this extraordinary year. With every blessing
Peter Waddup National Director
PAG E 4 — FEED I N G T H E H U N G RY
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THANK YOU FOR FEEDING PEOPLE LIKE MAIYA As Covid-19 swept Asia and Africa, our focus was to help the people you care about survive the global pandemic. A deep Covid-driven financial crisis left our hospital staff globally struggling to feed patients. Many dedicated staff members had already taken a pay cut to help the budget
go further. The cost of providing isolation beds for Covid-19 patients and securing PPE for frontline staff further depleted the budget. It is only through your compassion and generosity that hospital patients were fed during lockdown. We cannot thank you enough.
FEED I N G T H E H U N G RY — PAG E 5
This is Maiya who you fed and nourished at Anandaban Hospital in Nepal during the country’s lockdown. Maiya, who has speech difficulties and struggles to communicate, has lived with her nephew since her parents died. He now brings Maiya to Anandaban for ulcer care, but she first came for
leprosy treatment with her parents when she was just 15 years old. She desperately misses her parents. Whenever she talks about them tears roll down her cheeks. Maiya sees Anandaban as home, she knows it is a place where she is loved unconditionally. Just like the love she remembers from her parents.
SOWING THE SEEDS FOR A NEW LIFE
Not only have you kept people affected by leprosy alive as Covid-19 swept Asia and Africa, but seeds have been sown, both literally and metaphorically, so that they may prosper! You have given the people who need it most hope and a future. We can never thank you enough. This is how God has blessed your generosity…
PAGE 6 — S EE DS OF A N EW L I FE
NOURISHING Above: Emergency food parcels and masks were delivered to communities affected by leprosy including this one, living by a railway line on the outskirts of Kolkata, India.
The Karuna ambulance has brought medical care to people affected by leprosy and other marginalised groups for many years. While Mumbai has strict lockdown measures, the Karuna ambulance has been granted government permission to enter six slum communities. There are tears of relief and joy when the Karuna ambulance arrives bringing emergency medical care. The slums of Mumbai are home to around nine million people. Recent testing has shown how the virus can rage through these overcrowded living spaces affecting more than half of its residents. Of those fortunate enough to live outside of the slums, only 16% had been infected by the virus.
While leprosy has always been in the slums, it is Covid-19 that has provided the wake-up call to the health disparity between rich and poor. It has prompted calls for new affordable housing to replace slum living, something we pray will happen. Karuna means ‘compassion’ in the ancient Indian languages of Sanskrit and Pali. It is through your compassion that medical teams can reach out to those living in the poorest conditions at times such as this. During lockdown our team in Sri Lanka were able to deliver emergency food parcels to leprosy-affected families. They were also granted government permission to give agricultural training. Families like Visvalingam’s are now growing sustainable crops and fruit trees to feed themselves and others during lockdown and beyond!
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“FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,” DECLARES THE LORD, “PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE.” JEREMIAH 29:11-13 NIV
You also gave the gift of a water well to Visvalingam and his family. They now have easy access to clean drinking water and can practice good personal hygiene to protect against Covid-19.
” HEALING
Visvalingam said: “We now garden as a family for our food and we can earn some income from it too. I share my crops with my neighbours and encourage them to use our water well. I thank you so much for the care you have given to me and my family during this difficult time.”
Below: Visvalingam, pictured with his wife Thangama, has life-long damage to his hands and feet because of leprosy. He lives with his family near to the city of Batticaloa in Eastern Sri Lanka.
Above: The Karuna medical team gives ulcer care kits to people affected by leprosy in Mumbai slums. This means they can care for their feet and prevent disability.
PROSPERING
MEET THE FAMILY THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THE LEPROSY MISSION’S GLOBAL FAMILY. TOGETHER WE SEEK TO FOLLOW THE NEW COMMANDMENT JESUS GAVE; ‘LOVE ONE ANOTHER’. We’d like to introduce you to AnnaliJoy Thornicroft, a member of our family from Uckfield, East Sussex. She lives with her husband Neil and son Ewan and is a member of Ringmer Baptist Church in Lewes.
I became a Christian as a child having been adopted into a Christian family at just six weeks old. I am a wife and mum and have had a 30-year career in the charitable sector. Recently I have shared in the difficult times faced by so many having lost my dear Mum to Covid-19 in the Spring.
A very special evening was spent with some of the ladies in the hospital, inspirational women who had overcome overwhelming odds. We painted each other’s nails and just enjoyed being in each other’s company. Although it may sound extreme to say, I believe I came back to the UK a different person. My faith was strengthened as was my desire to live a different way moving forward.
WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO BECOME INVOLVED IN THE LEPROSY MISSION’S WORK?
TELL US ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH YOU SUPPORT THE LEPROSY MISSION
I have always been aware of The Leprosy Mission's work through my parents and church friends. It was a few years ago that I became personally involved though when I felt very challenged by the work to provide homes for people affected by leprosy. It made me recognise how my own home is a place of refuge and peace.
As well as donating and praying individually and as a family, our church and other local fellowships have joined together to raise money for Anandaban Hospital. During the pandemic people have donated money from cancelled holidays or day trips as well as selling handmade face coverings.
I then started to understand a little more about the struggles of those affected by leprosy. The fact that many people are frightened to get a diagnosis or are unaware there is even a cure really struck me.
Two members of our fellowship, both with significant mobility challenges, walked a total of 5km on one of the hottest days of the year, raising £1,200.
PAG E 8 — M EET T H E FA M I LY
ANNALI-JOY, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR JOURNEY AS A CHRISTIAN?
YOU VISITED THE LEPROSY MISSION’S WORK IN NEPAL LAST YEAR. WHAT IMPACT DID THIS HAVE ON YOU? Initially I was a little reluctant to join the trip. I struggled to see how anyone in Nepal would benefit from me turning up with limited medical knowledge and grasp of the Nepali language. We visited Anandaban Hospital and spent time with the patients and medical teams.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE THINKING ABOUT SUPPORTING OR VOLUNTEERING WITH THE LEPROSY MISSION? I believe The Leprosy Mission gets to the heart of what Jesus would do. It provides lifechanging medical treatment while enabling individuals to support themselves. During the global pandemic I think we are hearing God remind us about working together. To bring healing and hope to His world. It is such a privilege and joy to be a small part of this.
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A NEW COMMAND I GIVE YOU. LOVE ONE ANOTHER. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU MUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
God has gifted us all with skills and talents that we can use to help build His kingdom. We believe the old adage ‘time is money’ is never more apt than when it comes to serving people affected by leprosy.
Perhaps you have marketplace skills such as computer literacy, data processing, photography, copywriting or editing? Just giving an hour or two of your time each week can bring help and hope to some of the world's hardest to reach people. You don’t need to live near our Peterborough office either. This year has seen so many of us adjust to working remotely!
You may feel equipped to set up a prayer group to pray for the people you support. Or organise a church service or coffee morning to raise funds with friends.
Whatever your skills and giftings, we would love to hear from you. Please email Arminda O’Reilly on ArmindaO@tlmew.org. uk.We so look forward to hearing from you!
GIVE AS YOU SHOP! It is not surprising that Amazon sales have surged this year with lockdown triggering a reliance on online shopping.
when there is such need in the world, but with many of you shopping this way the pennies soon become pounds.
But have you heard of AmazonSmile, a website where you can opt for 0.5% of the net purchase price of your shopping to be donated to The Leprosy Mission? The website is operated by Amazon with the same products and prices. Your 0.5% charity donation may seem like a drop in the ocean
You simply need to log onto smile.amazon. co.uk and nominate a charity. AmazonSmile is now also available via the Amazon Shopping app on iPhones and Android phones. Please don’t miss this opportunity and consider nominating The Leprosy Mission as your chosen charity!
YOU R T I M E T R A N S FOR M S L I V ES ! — PAG E 9
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JOHN 13:34 NIV
YOUR TIME TRANSFORMS LIVES!
PAGE 1 0 — PIO NE ERI NG T R EATM EN T
ONE IN FIVE LEPROSY PATIENTS DEVELOP ULCERS
Leprosy causes nerve damage which makes hands and feet numb. As a result cuts and burns easily go unnoticed and ulcers can develop. People affected by leprosy often have frequent hospital stays to cure severe ulcers. If left untreated, they can lead to serious disability and amputation. The traditional method of treating ulcers sees the wound cleaned and dead skin removed. A dressing is then applied. While this encourages the natural healing of the skin, it can still take months or even years. The average hospital stay for an ulcer patient is five to six weeks.
For two years, Senior Surgeon at Anandaban Hospital in Nepal, Dr Indra Napit, has been trialling a new ulcer treatment. First used in dentistry, Leukocyte and Platelet Rich Fibrin (LPRF) sees blood samples taken from the patient. The samples are then spun in a centrifuge to separate the red and white blood cells with platelets into two layers. The white blood cells and platelets coagulate to create a gel membrane. This is a precious concentration of the body’s own healing growth factors and infection-fighting agents. The membrane is then applied directly to the wound site and covered with a dressing. The whole process is complete in
30 minutes and dressings are reapplied every week. The technique has been trialled on more than 100 patients and the initial results are very promising. For some patients, ulcers healed in as little as a week. A total of 97% of patients saw their ulcers completely healed in seven weeks, cutting healing time in half when compared to using the traditional methods. LPRF is now part of a wider research project between Anandaban Hospital and the University of Birmingham. The study, funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), will run until December 2023.
“THIS IS A WAY FOR ME TO SHARE GOD’S LOVE, NOT BY SPEECH BUT BY ACT” DR INDRA NAPIT, SENIOR SURGEON AT ANANDABAN HOSPITAL, NEPAL Left: Dr Indra carrying out LPRF on the first leprosy patient at Anandaban Hospital. Raju, 59, was diagnosed with leprosy when he was 27. He first came to Anandaban 12 years ago. His ulcers became so badly infected that he had to undergo septic surgery and
have some of his toes amputated. In 2018 he was successfully given LPRF treatment to heal a severe ulcer on his left foot. Below: Raju’s foot before (on phone) and after LPRF treatment.
P I ON EER I N G T R EATM EN T — PAG E 1 1
HOW LPRF TREATMENT WORKS
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CENTRIFUGE PATIENT'S BLOOD SAMPLE
WHITE AND RED BLOOD CELLS SEPARATE INTO LAYERS
GEL MEMBRANE OF WHITE BLOOD CELLS AND PLATELETS
MEMBRANE IS APPLIED DIRECTLY TO ULCER
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WHAT IS MOST REWARDING ABOUT BEING A LEPROSY DOCTOR?
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Being able to show love to leprosy patients is something, I think, not everyone is able to do. Non-medical people in Nepal are often prejudiced against people affected by leprosy. But even with medical professionals, who know leprosy is not transmitted by touch, there
can still be stigma! For me it is a way to share God’s love, not by speech but by act. Anandaban Hospital gives the staff a lesson on what it means to love. We are working with people who have often been discriminated against and who people don’t want to speak to. But while caring for them, we can talk and listen to them. It is when we spend time with them that they start talking from the heart. By doing so they feel comforted that we will take care of them. This is why we all feel so much connection at Anandaban.
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DR INDRA, WHAT DOES LPRF MEAN FOR LEPROSY PATIENTS? LPRF is life-changing for patients. It sees their wounds heal so much quicker. They can return to their families and jobs, if they are blessed to have them, without too much disruption.
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From Romans 5: 3 we know that when there are difficult situations, it is for our good. I always think 'why has this or that situation come into our life', and we have had many at Anandaban. But if there were not difficult situations we would not be on a good track. I became a believer when a missionary doctor from Australia prayed for me in 1989 when I was in hospital. I was working as a paramedic before going to medical school when I became critically ill with drug hypersensitivity. I fell into a coma. The doctors told my mum I was unlikely to survive. A couple of weeks later I was still very sick but I heard a visiting mission doctor asking whether he could pray for me. I nodded my head because I was unable to speak.
During his prayer I was lifted by angels. By the end of his prayer I was back on the bed. A miracle had happened. Before that I was an atheist. It took me another six months to recover. When I started walking around again I thought 'who is this God who healed me through the power of prayer?' So I talked to another mission doctor who gave me a Bible. Troubles teach us to be more reliant on God. Around the time of the Millennium I was doing some orthopaedic training in Moscow. At the time there was a big nationalist presence in Moscow and one night I was almost killed by them. I was with two African friends at the metro station when some young people came from behind us with beer bottles in their hands. We saw a train stop behind us so we went into the train and they followed us immediately. The glass doors had closed but they smashed the glass door. Before they could jump in, the train left the station. I think that is God's miracle. If they had entered the train then I would have surely been killed. From then on I started praying every morning before I left my room. It is then that I became closer to God.
I N T ERV I EW — PAG E 1 3
IN YOUR JOB YOU ARE RELIANT ON GOD'S PROVISION AND PROTECTION. CAN YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU FIRST BEGAN TO LEAN ON HIM?
There are so many benefits all round. Faster healing frees up hospital beds so we can treat more people affected by leprosy. There is always a huge need and it is our calling to reach everyone possible who needs our help. LPRF is natural, cheap and safe. It is a simple procedure that can be carried out by nursing staff and paramedics.
WILL YOU BRING MEDICAL HELP TO INDIA’S ISLANDERS? PAG E 14 — W I L L YOU H EL P ?
Can you imagine needing urgent medical help but there isn’t a doctor? There’s no GP surgery and no A&E department. Mantu faced that very situation. Mantu is from the Indian Sundarbans, a vast low-lying mangrove area spanning India and Bangladesh. The swampy islands are home to more than four million of the world's poorest and hardest to reach people. It is almost unimaginable that an area the size of Yorkshire has no doctors’ surgeries and scarce access to a trained medic.
In the Indian Sundarbans leprosy hides amongst the ramshackle communities. Villages like Mantu’s aren’t accessible by road. Leprosy doctors from Premananda Hospital in Kolkata know they need to reach these people in desperate need. They are willing to travel vast distances over difficult terrain to help people like Mantu. Mantu is 71 and was cured of leprosy 20 years ago. Tragically, by the time he received treatment, this cruel disease had caused irreversible nerve damage. He had been robbed of feeling in
his right foot and both hands. You can imagine how many injuries he has had over the years without even realising. When the medical outreach team found Mantu in 2017, he was suffering from a severe ulcer on his right foot. This was caused by an injury that left untreated was literally life threatening. The team took Mantu back to our hospital where he stayed for two months. With medical treatment his ulcer eventually healed. He was given special footwear to help protect his numb right foot.
Mantu and his wife Sushila have faced tremendous challenge this year. Cyclone Amphan, the worst storm to hit the Bay of Bengal this century, made landfall on 20 May, ripping the roof from their makeshift home. There were severe food shortages in the aftermath of the storm, not helped by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Please keep this special couple and the people of the Sundarbans in your prayers. Please give today so that they can receive emergency medical care and lifesaving hospital treatment.
Their lives took a further downward spiral when Mantu injured his right foot during the cyclone clear up operation. A deep ulcer quickly developed. Mantu was incredibly fortunate that the outreach medical team from Premananda were able to reach him and treat his ulcer. He was also provided with an ulcer care kit and emergency medicines.
Amazingly, it costs only £67 to bring a patient to hospital for
It costs £25 to deliver an ulcer care kit to bring healing to a leprosy patient like Mantu
a week’s ulcer treatment and care (including all staffing costs and meals) It costs £134 to bring someone like Mantu to hospital for two week’s ulcer treatment and care (including all staffing costs and meals) Please give today to bring hope of a better future to someone like Mantu. Thank you
You can send a medical outreach worker from Premananda Hospital to treat foot ulcers like Mantu’s
W I L L YOU H EL P ? — PAG E 1 5
Thanks to you, the team were also able to give Mantu and Sushila an emergency food parcel and a tarpaulin for shelter. Mantu and Sushila are extremely thankful to you for helping them back on their feet. There are thousands of others like Mantu in desperate need of medical help. They are suffering alone and can only dream of medical care reaching their village.
A village in the Sundarbans
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