Seven Lepers
Our team went out to a wooden hut; they described it as more like a dog house or chicken coop. The patient was an old, thin woman. The team had come to care for her wounds as she was a leper. She told them how when she was cast out to the jungle by the other villagers when she was younger and separated from her children and loved ones, along with 6 other leprosy sufferers.
Thirty or so years later a pastor went out to find them and bring them back but she was the only one who survived. She is cured of her leprosy now but has wounds due to nerve damage. She described with tears how her family still won’t receive her or care for her wounds. She still lives as an outcast. Her family drop her off basic food like root vegetables. What a tragic life, but what a privilege for our team to help her. We have been asked by the local health department to care for the wounds of the lepers as no-one else wants to.
Esther Scarborough, IFC Medical Director, writes, “I so love our team who want to help the most discarded, infectious members of this society. I personally found it hard recently when a leprosy patient hugged me and I felt her weeping wounds against my arms. She is Thelda an old friend and patient, mother of many and pregnant again. She was on treatment but her leprosy has reoccurred since she stopped treatment, we are seeking to get her back on the program. My contact with her reminded me of the risks and sacrifices our leprosy staff makes as they care for their patients. There are many lepers on our islands untreated. This is tragic since medication is available, we just need more staff. We have a big vision, but we have a bigger God!”