​Poorna Sukha Leprosy and TB Project, Dindigul, india

​Providing peace and support in Dindigul

Dindigul is the largest district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The 200-bed St Joseph Hospital in Dindigul was founded in 1957. Supported by SFLG, the Poorna Sukha Leprosy and TB Project was founded at the hospital in 1972 and now cares for 150 people with leprosy. 

Mrs Mookayammal (aged 70, lives at home in Dindigul)

Mrs Mookayammal and Mr Jacob examining her hand,

At 25 years old, Mrs Mookayammal was married with a son. After noticing lesions on her leg, she sought help from village health workers, who referred her to the Poorna Sukha Project at St Joseph’s Hospital.

Tragically, on learning that Mrs Mookayammal had leprosy, her husband left and married one of her sisters.  

She then developed clawing of the fingers and ulcers on her toes. But the project provided treatment, and also much-needed ongoing support. She still receives regular visits from staff and sometimes visits the project.

Mrs Mookayammal says: “What I am today is because of the timely intervention,  treatment and support from the health workers from the project. I am grateful to them. Without their support,  I would have died long ago”

Mrs Mookayammal now wishes for the project to help her rear goats, so that she can remain self-reliant. 

What I would like the world to know about leprosy is (that it is) curable.

Mr Natarajan (aged 70, lives at home in Dindigul)

​Mr Natarajan was working in construction at 25, and dreaming of having a family and earning a living when he began experiencing lesions and clawing in his fingers. Inspectors from the project discovered this during a survey and diagnosed leprosy. They brought multidrug therapy to his home and closely monitored any leprosy reactions to the treatment.

Crucially they helped him to set up a small shop so he can secure an income. Mr Natarajan has also married and had children. The project cured his wife of leprosy and have provided Mr Natarajan with goggles for lagophthalmos.

Staff from the project visit him and his family regularly. He hopes they will buy him goats so that they can rear them and provide an income. Mr Natarajan and his wife now live with their two sons and grandchildren.​

Mr Natarajan and his wife and children

​Mr Natarajan says: “Without the support of this Centre, I would have not been able to live a dignified life. We look forward to a peaceful life and we (hope that) our two children and grandchildren will take care of us in our last days”.

What I would like the world to know about leprosy is (that it is) curable. 

Mrs Karuppayee (aged 60, lives at home in Dindigul)

Mrs Karuppayee

​Mrs Karuppayee was only eight years old, when she developed lesions all over her body and clawing in her left hand. Leprosy was diagnosed by doctors who visited her village.

Mrs Karuppayee said her entire family was shattered by the diagnosis but that a staff member at St Joseph’s was able to console and comfort them.

She was taken to the project, where doctors carried out surgery on her left hand and gave her all the treatment that her condition needed. They have also bought her goats, which will provide her with a livelihood.

Mrs Karuppayee’s family believed that no one would want to marry her once she had leprosy, so she was forced to marry her maternal uncle. She had three children with him, but he later left her, so she and the children lived with her parents. But after her parents and older son passed away, Mrs Karuppayee was left alone. The project has been a constant support for her, giving her daily rations as well as ongoing medicine.

Her other two sons are settled well. She says that without the project she “would not have been happy….God has brought me to this day.  I am happy. I want a peaceful life till the end of my life.”​

What I would like the world to know about leprosy is (that it is) curable….one can live a happier life if you take the medicines regularly and follow the instructions.