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Providing care at MAITRI, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
MAITRI Charitable Trust, a FPMT project in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, celebrated World Leprosy Day and India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2020. Adriana Ferranti, MAITRI director, shares the story.
World Leprosy Day was founded in 1954 thanks to French writer Raoul Follereau, who chose the last Sunday of January for the yearly celebration. It is not only a day to reflect on the victims of this devastating disease; it is first and foremost a day of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are afflicted by it. Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) continues to infect tens of thousands of people throughout the world every year.
The lack of painful symptoms is paradoxically the blessing and the curse of leprosy. Its silent advance may take years. The progressive destruction of sensory and motor nerves may lead to irreversible damage without clear warning signs. When ignorance and fear of being stigmatized causes people to disregard the signs of the disease, the outcome can be the development of permanent disabilities. The lack of sensation in the affected limbs can cause serious ulcers that require special attention and care.
Distributing information on World Leprosy Day, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
Women in Indian villages are generally less exposed to media information. A direct type of awareness-raising is the only solution for prevention of deformities (POD). MAITRI combines POD work in villages with care provided at its hospitalization facilities. People with disabilities are offered appropriate care in a friendly, integrated environment where stigma has no place.
Each year on World Leprosy Day MAITRI carries out its usual range of education, awareness-raising, and other activities with local people. Community need highlights the importance of the continuation of MAITRI’s painstaking work in the field, bringing awareness, assistance, and relief to the hansenians (people with leprosy). This year as usual two MAITRI jeeps traveled in opposite directions throughout Gaya District, raising awareness about leprosy. After traveling throughout Gaya District the jeeps returned to Bodhgaya, meeting at 3 p.m. in front of MAITRI’s stall on a roadside in Bodhgaya. Awareness-raising activities continued until 5 p.m.
Raising the Indian flag for Republic Day, MAITRI Charitable Trust, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
January 26 is an annual national holiday in India celebrating the day India adopted its constitution in 1956, turning India into a republic. MAITRI staff and patients celebrated Republic Day together at MAITRI by hoisting the Indian flag. Members of the Rotary Club of Uruvela (Bodhgaya) were the guests of honor. Meanwhile MAITRI teams met several celebrations in their tours. It was a big day of celebrations.
Watch “MAITRI 30 Years in the Service of Others,” a new video created by volunteer Phil Hunt, on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/i0JqRUIPOOE
For more information about MAITRI Charitable Trust, visit their website:
http://www.maitri-bodhgaya.org/home/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.