This year, from May 5th to May 14th, Verna, Matt, Bianca and I had the incredible opportunity of volunteering with The Leprosy Project. With the exception of Matt, none of us had ever done anything like this sort of experience. We knew going in this was going to be a very new experience for us, and, personally, I had no idea what to expect.

When we arrived in China, specifically Hong Kong, we arranged a meeting with members of the board, to introduce us to the project before we left for Sichuan and the villages we would be helping in. What struck me from this meeting with Tony, Theresia, and Nick, was the kindness that they showed us and the immense passion that they had for this project. We were strangers to them and them to us, but they met us as if we were old friends, and we were doing them some incredible favour! When we finally got around to talking about the project, we learned a lot that wasn’t possible in anything but a face to face meeting. We learned that they weren’t just a “giving out hand-outs” type of organization. They wanted to target grassroots issues, and hoped that one day the project was sustainable without them. I admired this greatly. Without a doubt, this long-term plan is much more challenging than simply giving out handouts, but they were willing to overcome the challenge to have a greater impact.

The next day, as we arrived at the airport to fly to Sichuan, we met another incredible person, Seb. Seb was to be our guide of sorts throughout the next 8 days. We also met with Paco, a local Rotaractor who had decided to come on this trip with us. They, as the members of the board were, were also kind and passionate. I began to think kindness and passion was going to be a theme of everyone we met on this trip (and it was!). Once our flight landed in Chengdu, we boarded a train to the main project office, where we met the staff and prepared for the main part of the trip: visiting 4 villages in the next 6 days.

In the first village we visited, we had the opportunity of speaking with some of the villagers, so we could hear their stories. They had been isolated many years ago, leaving behind all their lives simply because they had contracted a disease that had an associated stigma. I began to think how unfair this was. They, first, were battling a disease that caused them loss of limbs, sight and health. And second, they had to lose their families, lives and homes because isolation was easier than treatment. It was also difficult for them to rejoin society, as the stigma was still present and they themselves had fears of being shunned a second time. The Leprosy Project has now cured them of the disease, but, due to their isolation for many years, issues of nutrition, secondary infections, and dealing with physical disabilities still lingered.

These are also the issues The Leprosy Project works on. They teach villages about nutrition, and how to cook so that they get all the nutrients they need. The second village we visited was much larger, and had many children. The issue of malnourishment was easy to see in these kids. They were skinny, small, and many looked 3 or 4 years younger than their actual age. We spent our time in this village in a cooking contest. This was a fun way for the project staff to teach the village about proper, nutritious cooking that would be healthy for them and the children. I was sad to see the kids in the condition they were in, but encouraged by the work we had done that day. With the continued help of the project, the situation will get better.

In the next two villages, we focused on hygiene. Some of the villager’s rooms were often dirty, unhygienic and perfect resting places for bugs and disease. Cleaning these were very important. Due to the leprosy, many of the people affected by leprosy (or PALs, a term created to remove the stigma of “lepers”) had lost feeling in their limbs, and if they ever got cut they would risk ulcers. They cannot feel the ulcers and end up having them for long periods of time, a large health risk. By teaching them about personal hygiene, and how to keep the village clean, the villagers are able to notice cuts more often (because they are paying attention) and risk is decreased due to cleaner conditions.

It would be impossible for me to talk about everything we learned over these 8 days, but I will say, again, that I have never seen such a passionate and caring group. This starts with the board, and stretches right over into the staff, and even to us volunteers. Targeting the grassroots issues is not easy, but, I think, it’s the best way to go about any problem.

 I also want to thank everyone that worked to allow us to go on this trip: the board, the staff, as well as the many local volunteers (who I have yet to mention) who acted as translators for us, and became lifelong friends. A special thanks to the Rotary Club of Vancouver who sponsored for this trip.

I’ll finish with the moment that impacted me the most. This moment showed me that the project is about more than just nutrition, hygiene, and dealing with disease. In the very last village we visited, one of the PALs came to see us and one of the staff members had a conversation with her, and translated her words to us. I don’t remember the whole conversation, but I do remember the lady telling the staffer to tell us (loosely translated) “not to come near me, because I will get them sick”. This lady had been cured of leprosy, and would not have been at all contagious. But, because of all the unfair treatment she has received in her life, she just assumed that we had to avoid her, as if she wasn’t just another person. I realized then that on top of all the other work that they do, The Leprosy Project is about letting the PALs know that we do care about them, and that they are nothing to be afraid of, they are just like us.

Gurinder Walia
Rotaract Club of Vancouver

For more photos please visit the Photo Gallery

ffThe Leprosy Project arranged a summer volunteer teaching program in cooperation with Siyu Organization for Social Responsibility, the biggest non-governmental volunteer project for education and community development in the Greater Liangshan area. Nine volunteers from the Siyu Organization spent their summer holidays in Xihe Village in Jinyang and Kuihua Village in Ganluo. The volunteers taught courses such as Chinese Language, English, Music, Art, Environmental Protection, Civil Education. They also designed courses specifically to suit the needs of each village.

The Leprosy Project is grateful to have the volunteers working in the villages. The village children benefited and it gave the volunteers an opportunity to learn firsthand about leprosy and the people in the villages. We hope this will be one more way to help end the stigma faced by the people in the villages we serve.

The Most Beautiful Holidays - Xihe Primary School

July 11, 2013 was the first time that I traveled without my family. This is when I began my trip as volunteer teacher in Xihe Village of Jinyang County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. I felt exceptionally good because there was hope when I stepped on to the train bound for Xichang City. I have gained a lot; most importantly I met new friends and students during my time there.

Zhao Jie - The most supportive person and the one to whom I need to express my gratitude.

Like most of the others, at the very beginning I was feeling a bit hesitant to teach in Xihe Village, Jinyang since it is well-known for difficult mountain paths and it is a leprosy rehab village. I finally accepted the challenge and when I told Zhao Jie he immediately joined the program with me. I personally have lots of shortcomings; picking on others is definitely one of them. I kept picking on him on the way to the village, but he never showed any dissatisfaction with me. Zhao Jie got along very well with everyone in the village; he taught and played ball games with children. Everyone liked him very much.

We had plans for doing household visits, and that was the most tiring duty for me. We had to walk more than half an hour on a rocky mountain path just to visit one family. Zhao Jie never complained and finished all the household visits. During the visits we met a boy whose mother had recently passed away. No one was taking good care of him. He was wearing ragged clothes and shoes. Zhao Jie walked hours to the nearest town to buy the boy new clothes and shoes. Zhao not only knew how to take care of others but he was also a good cook. He made me feel that I no longer needed to worry about anything.

Lanze Biga - The most moving student

Lanze Biga was the first student that we met on the way to Xihe Village. We met him as we passed through another village on the way to Xihe. To subsidize his family's income, Lanze Biga walks three hours to buy snacks to resell in his village. He is 13 years old, but only a grade 3 student.

Lanze is a courageous and talkative boy, who called me "little chub" a nickname I was not happy with. When I found out that most of the village children had only two meals a day and potatoes were their staple food I realized the reason all the villagers were so thin; and of course I am a "chub" compared to them. The heartbreaking thing was that most of the children in the village are suffering from malnutrition. The children were polite and willing to share. One day we went fishing. One of the children dropped his shoes in the river; and of course a pair of shoes means a lot to the child. Lanze took off his shoes right away and offered them to the child.

These village children are smaller than children of same age group in towns and cities; though their appearance is smaller, their hearts and minds are much bigger. They know the joy of sharing. They often picked flowers and grilled corn for us when we were in the village. The day finally came when we had to leave the village. Lanze cried for a long time. We still keep in contact by phone, and Lanze is now the team leader in the class, and he has been practicing writing. He hopes that we can visit the village again soon.

I am not writing this to tell people that we have been doing something special, but because I want to let everyone know that there are still people and children in need of help and concern, and to let people know that leprosy is not scary. It is curable and totally under control nowadays. I would like to thank the Leprosy Project for letting me have such an opportunity that I could teach and live in the village. Thank everyone from The Leprosy Project, you are indeed the most beautiful people in the world.

The Leprosy Project arranged a summer volunteer teaching program in cooperation with Siyu Organization for Social Responsibility, the biggest non-governmental volunteer project for education and community development in the Greater Liangshan area. Nine volunteers from the Siyu Organization spent their summer holidays in Xihe Village in Jinyang and Kuihua Village in Ganluo. The volunteers taught courses such as Chinese Language, English, Music, Art, Environmental Protection, Civil Education. They also designed courses specifically to suit the needs of each village.
The Leprosy Project is grateful to have the volunteers working in the villages. The village children benefited and it gave the volunteers an opportunity to learn firsthand about leprosy and the people in the villages. We hope this will be one more way to help end the stigma faced by the people in the villages we serve.

One of the volunteer students described his experiences as follows:

The Most Beautiful Holidays – Xihe Primary School

July 11, 2013 was the first time that I traveled without my family. This is when I began my trip as volunteer teacher in Xihe Village of Jinyang County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. I felt exceptionally good because there was hope when I stepped on to the train bound for Xichang City. I have gained a lot; most importantly I met new friends and students during my time there.

Zhao Jie – The most supportive person and the one to whom I need to express my gratitude.

Like most of the others, at the very beginning I was feeling a bit hesitant to teach in Xihe Village, Jinyang since it is well-known for difficult mountain paths and it is a leprosy rehab village. I finally accepted the challenge and when I told Zhao Jie he immediately joined the program with me. I personally have lots of shortcomings; picking on others is definitely one of them. I kept picking on him on the way to the village, but he never showed any dissatisfaction with me. Zhao Jie got along very well with everyone in the village; he taught and played ball games with children. Everyone liked him very much.

We had plans for doing household visits, and that was the most tiring duty for me. We had to walk more than half an hour on a rocky mountain path just to visit one family. Zhao Jie never complained and finished all the household visits. During the visits we met a boy whose mother had recently passed away. No one was taking good care of him. He was wearing ragged clothes and shoes. Zhao Jie walked hours to the nearest town to buy the boy new clothes and shoes. Zhao not only knew how to take care of others but he was also a good cook. He made me feel that I no longer needed to worry about anything.

Lanze Biga – The most moving student

Lanze Biga was the first student that we met on the way to Xihe Village. We met him as we passed through another village on the way to Xihe. To subsidize his family’s income, Lanze Biga walks three hours to buy snacks to resell in his village. He is 13 years old, but only a grade 3 student.

Lanze is a courageous and talkative boy, who called me “little chub” a nickname I was not happy with. When I found out that most of the village children had only two meals a day and potatoes were their staple food I realized the reason all the villagers were so thin; and of course I am a “chub” compared to them. The heartbreaking thing was that most of the children in the village are suffering from malnutrition. The children were polite and willing to share. One day we went fishing. One of the children dropped his shoes in the river; and of course a pair of shoes means a lot to the child. Lanze took off his shoes right away and offered them to the child.

These village children are smaller than children of same age group in towns and cities; though their appearance is smaller, their hearts and minds are much bigger. They know the joy of sharing. They often picked flowers and grilled corn for us when we were in the village. The day finally came when we had to leave the village. Lanze cried for a long time. We still keep in contact by phone, and Lanze is now the team leader in the class, and he has been practicing writing. He hopes that we can visit the village again soon.

I am not writing this to tell people that we have been doing something special, but because I want to let everyone know that there are still people and children in need of help and concern, and to let people know that leprosy is not scary. It is curable and totally under control nowadays. I would like to thank the Leprosy Project for letting me have such an opportunity that I could teach and live in the village. Thank everyone from The Leprosy Project, you are indeed the most beautiful people in the world.

Sixty-four students from the villages of Puge, Butuo, Jinyang, Xide, Luding and Muli received bursaries for the first semester of the school year 2013 to 2014. This is an increase of 25 students in our bursaries scheme since last term. The scheme covered 4 university students who received RMB2000 per semester; 9 senior high students who received RMB1000 per semester; 30 junior high students who received RMB500 per semester and 21 primary students who received RMB260 per semester.  The aim of the bursaries scheme is to help students from families that are unable to support their children’s education. The students are chosen by committees in each community. The bursaries are given to students with an outstanding academic performance. 

In December, Project manager Kelly Xu was invited by the Red Cross in Xichang to give seminar at Xichang College on leprosy.  Ms. Xu shared her knowledge of the effects and treatment of leprosy, and her experience in her seven years with The Project.  Her talk was followed by a question and answer session.  The audience was keen to ask questions and understand the true facts about leprosy.

The film “Children of Leprosy” produced by Mr. Rob Tinworth was a highlight of the event giving the audience a chance to see the real lives of PALs and their families in the project villages.

It is through seminars and publicity events like this that we are able to give positive messages and spread the truth to the public about leprosy.  Leprosy is not contagious and it is curable.

Dr. Theresia Liem and Peter Barrett gave a presentation to the Chinese University Ladies Club. Afterwards, one of the attendees, Eleanor Gomersall of Shatin College offered to set up a stall at her school’s Annual Fair to promote The Project.  On Saturday, 17th November, 2012; Eleanor and a group of friends sold homemade cakes and lemonade raising HK$ 2,960.