Leprosy was robbing attractive Sakuntala of all she held dear.  Under pressure from his family, her husband left.

When we discovered her plight, The Leprosy Mission’s staff at Purulia were there to help.  At Bankura, less than an hour’s drive from Purulia, we have a vocational training centre (VTC).  The VTC provides trainees with marketable skills, a sense of personal dignity and self-worth, and the knowledge that God loves them.  Thousands of students have benefited from our life-transforming courses, which include computer studies, engineering, printing and tailoring. 

Sakuntala enrolled on a tailoring course, and she hopes that when she starts earning a good living as a seamstress her husband will return.  She has also had operations on both her eyes, so her sight is no longer at risk.  None of these things could have happened without the generosity of our supporters.  Her life has been transformed!

Please click here if you would like to help us to fund the ophthalmic work at Kolkata, Kothara and Purulia hospitals.  We need to raise £120,000 for these centres.  Your generosity today will ensure that others like Sakuntala will receive the eye surgery they so desperately need.

Just £35 will give someone the gift of sight.

The Facts

Around 12 million people in India are blind; most are women.  This is a quarter of all blindness worldwide.  In India most loss of sight is caused by disease and is preventable.  A simple operation costing £35 is all it takes to correct lagophthalmos, a major cause of leprosy-related suffering and stigmatisation.

2004 figures from TLM’s six ophthalmic centres

• 46,816 consultations
•   4,288 admissions
•   4,653 surgeries

We are grateful for every penny we receive from supporters. Perhaps you could encourage your friends to collect regularly. Then at your convenience you could count up the money and send a cheque or postal order for the total to the Peterborough office, or enter it directly into our bank account (We will send you a receipt book enabling you to give everyone a record of their donations)

• If you or your friends would like to give a donation directly to us you are welcome to do so online. Alternatively you could donate by cheque, postal order, by phone with your credit card, or by standing order through your bank. If you are a UK tax-payer, The Leprosy Mission can reclaim 28p in every pound you give under Gift Aid Scheme. All you have to do is sign a simple declaration asking us to do so. Forms are available from the Peterborough office.

• Remember you can contribute to TLM funds by indulging in some home-shopping using the TLM Trading Catalogue, or logging onto to TLM Trading's website www.tlmtrading.com

• Many supporters choose to leave a legacy to TLM in their Will. TLM has produced a comprehensive booklet called 'a Will to give'. This provides step-by-step advice about making a Will.