Leprosy thrives where there is poverty. Malnutrition, a lack of clean water, and poor sanitation make people more vulnerable to the disease.

The disease traps families in vicious cycles of poverty too. For people like Anjali, living in Odisha in India, the chains of leprosy and poverty feel impossible to break.

Anjali was just 11 years old when she heard those words. She didn’t know how much they would change her life.

Diagnosed at a local hospital, Anjali should have been given the cure. But she was sent home without treatment.

As the visible signs of leprosy became more apparent, instead of caring for her, Anjali’s grandfather subjected her to terrifying abuse. He believed she was cursed. After two years of threats, he abandoned her in a leprosy colony far from home. She hasn’t seen her family since.

Resilience against the odds

Now in her 30s, Anjali has rebuilt her life as best she could. But it hasn’t been easy.

Every day, she walks 4 miles to beg outside a temple. It’s the only way she can make any money.

“I want so much more for my sons than the life I have had. We have nothing. I have to beg because no one will employ me. People don’t even come near me. They just throw a coin or some food scraps.

“Our home is collapsing. There’s water coming through the roof. It’s really hard living in a wet, damp room during the monsoon. There’s no toilet, and we walk to the river to get water.

“There’s so much sickness. I can’t afford doctors, no-one can here. I’m scared our children will get leprosy too. No-one cares about us. We are forgotten.”

Despite everything, Anjali refuses to give up. She’ll keep on begging to provide for her boys. On a small piece of shrubland outside their shack, she has started a vegetable patch with seeds she finds as she walks to beg. It isn’t much, but it’s a vital source of food for her family.

Equipped to act

Jesus equips you and I to bring justice to people living in extreme poverty like Anjali. As we are blessed, He empowers us to bless others.

The cure for leprosy. Housing and clean water. Education and training for young people. Support to grow crops and find good jobs.

This is the transformation you can spark across Africa and Asia. You can bring opportunity and hope to people like Anjali. And together, we can break the chains of injustice, leprosy, and poverty in Jesus’ name.