Durga Lal, born to leprosy survivors, is now on a mission to rescue other patients from begging on the streets

The stigma around leprosy is alive and well. Lepers are treated like outcasts and wretches despite their condition being manageable. Forced to live outside conventional society, their resilience is incredible. However, it is unfortunately put to the test for thousands of poor lepers on a day to day basis.

Hope Welfare Trust does whatever possible to ease the suffering of all of our 170 beneficiaries. Take a look at some of the measures taken by us to help the less fortunate -

1. We organised medical camps where beneficaries were provided essential medicines, bandages, ointments, etc
2. We ensure our beneficiaries are kept safe from the elements by arranging tents (tirpal) for every one of them.
3. Buckets, soap, mosquito nets, etc are provided to maintain a healthy and hygienic environment.
4. Distributed shelter kits in September to lepers of Prayagraj to ease their living conditions.

Take a look at the situation of Kamla Devi, a survivor who has been battling leprosy for the last 5 decades. Though her disease left her crippled and reliant on crutches to walk, the real harm came from society itself. Left to fend for herself, her resilience carried her to an ashram where she found refuge. To this day, her survival depends on whatever she can make by begging. The local society occasionally helps her out but her circumstances combined with her condition make her situation dire.

We need your help to ensure that lepers are not only known as victims of their disease. They too are human beings with the same aspirations, hopes, and pasts. It is our duty to care for them, not despite their condition, but because of it. And your support is crucial in our stuggle to make better lives.

Your support matters. Contribute now.

Listen to the story of a leprosy survivor and their hardship.

Following his leprosy diagnosis, Dwarka and his wife migrated to Varanasi many years ago in search of a new life after losing their old one. Faced with rejection at every turn, even a leprosy colony turned them away, forcing them to sleep with the sky as their roof.

Finally building a meager settlement under a bridge, the old couple survived on whatever they could earn from begging on the streets. Their life is made all the more difficult as a result of Dwarka's disfigured face and his beloved wife's blindness.

When Hope Welfare Foundation discovered them in such a miserable state, we took steps to ease their living conditions, including providing dry rations for their sustenance. But we need your help to do more for them!

Just like Dwarka, innumerable people all over India suffer from no fault of their own. Driven by stigma and superstition, leprosy survivors are denied the most basic requirements of life. But together, we can change their fate. Please help us provide leprosy survivors the materials and support they need to live with dignity.

Join us to save these poor souls from a wretched existence. Donate now and save a life.