LEPROSY CRISIS IN INDIA
Imagine having a disease that negatively impacted every aspect of your life in a major way.
If the cure to that disease were available and free, could anything stop you from seeking it?
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody.”
- Mother Theresa
STORIES OF EMPOWERMENT
EARLY LEPROSY DETECTION SAVED A YOUNG BOY'S FUTURE
Raj* is a 12-year-old boy with a giant smile that lights up a room. He was born in a leprosy community and has just wrapped up his 6th-grade year. That is just a year or so before most kids in his circumstances would be ending their schooling to start working – begging or as day laborers – if they were lucky to get any schooling at all.
SOLUTIONS IN ACTION
Rising Star Outreach empowers individuals and families to rise above the stigma associated with leprosy and to live healthy, productive lives through quality education, medical care, and community development.
Our programs empower leprosy-affected individuals to develop sustainability in their colonies, and eliminate the stigma of leprosy in the communities that surround them.
The results we’re seeing are powerful and encouraging. There’s much more to do. Through people like you, these programs become lasting solutions to an ancient problem.
Run entirely by a team of excellent Indian doctors, the unit travels to the colonies on a regular basis. It provides leprosy screening, medicines for treatment, and wound and ulcer care. We can also offer medical/ surgical treatment for leprosy and non-leprosy-related elements through a partnership with local hospitals. In 2014 a second unit was initiated in the Trichy area.
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With this progress, it became even more apparent that the plight of the children needed to be better addressed. As word got out among the leprosy colonies of the Rising Star Outreach preschools, the waiting list began to grow until it became clear that there was a significant need for a permanent facility. Still, preschool was a helpful start, but more was needed to change the trajectory of their lives forever. Thus, in November 2005, Rising Star Outreach purchased 15.5 acres of land following an 18-month search. Construction began in October 2006, and a permanent school for the children was built. Our beautiful Rising Star Outreach campus was officially registered as the Peery Matriculation School in 2007 and now offers complete education from UKG to 12th Standard. It comprises the Peery Matriculation Primary School, the Peery Matriculation Secondary School, and the Peery Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
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The Rising Star Outreach campus has excellent infrastructure, offering safe living quarters capable of accommodating 250 children at beautiful hostels, comfortable quarters for staff and visitors, a dining room and multipurpose hall, and a meditation center. Additional students from the local village also attend the school, helping with integration and community relationships. The campus is a place of learning, joy, peace, and beauty operated by 114 dedicated staff.
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From there, the work has only continued. Students from leprosy colonies who cannot attend our school due to distance are now provided the opportunity to participate in local schools through our provision of Perpetual Colony Education Grants. We have also taken over running a second campus, this one in the state of Bihar, and will soon be building our own campus there. We are now reaching over 1000 children through these services, helping to improve their and their families' lives and break a cycle of stigma.
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