American Leprosy Missions

It's the training materials express!
These are booklets describing skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like leprosy for a training in the DR Congo.

Training is one way we break down the barriers to health for people suffering from NTDs. Working with local governments, NGOs, and Christian partners, we support training for health workers, pastors, community volunteers, teachers, school children -- everyone has a part to play in erasing stigma and connecting people to care!

We are committed to disrupting the devastating and lifelong effects of skin NTDs, as we live and proclaim the gospel, helping people heal holistically so they can experience renewed hope and whole lives.

Happy International Friendship Day! 🌟🎉

Kisum (left) and Rahul (right) live in the same village in Nepal. Both need the cure for leprosy, but the nearest clinic with the antibiotic multi-drug therapy (MDT) isn't nearby. Accessing medication and care is a significant barrier for many people affected by neglected diseases like leprosy.

That's why our partners work diligently to identify and diagnose people affected and get them the care they need, regardless of where they live!

Every person is made in the image of God and deserves access to healing and the
opportunity to flourish. We are dedicated to breaking barriers--like access and distance--that prevent afflicted people from living whole lives.


Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

In April, our partner in DR Congo -- IME Kimpese Hospital -- suffered damage to its buildings and resources from an intense storm. You joined us immediately to come alongside IME Kimpese to rebuild and repair.

Thanks to your support, a new roof is in progress so IME Kimpese can continue its critical work!

On Day of the African Child, we remember millions of children like Florent in DR Congo, who are suffering or at risk from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These diseases are treatable, and every child deserves access to healing and the opportunity to flourish!

When Florent was 11 years old, he began visiting traditional healers with his parents, trying to find a treatment for a wound on his leg. After two years searching for answers, his parents still didn't know what was wrong--but it was the flesh-eating disease, Buruli ulcer.

Finally, a local pastor in our Faith Leaders Project met Florent and helped him get the care and treatment he needed at our partner, IME Kimpese Hospital! As his leg continues to heal, Florent is excited to return to school and play soccer with his friends.

American Leprosy Missions works with and through the Church to set people free from the pain and stigma of NTDs like Buruli ulcer. We're dedicated to breaking barriers that prevent children like Florent from living whole lives--thank you for being part of this work with us!

For nearly 120 years, American Leprosy Missions has been combatting leprosy around the world...
.. did you know there are about 20 other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)?

Millions of people around the globe suffer from NTDs like leprosy. Not only do they experience crippling disabilities and physical pain, they are often socially isolated and rejected.

We work to find, diagnose and treat people affected by four of these diseases--learn more:
https://leprosy.org/neglected-diseases/

A look at a groundbreaking earlier this month for new facilities at our partner, Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital in Nepal!

Through a grant from USAID - US Agency for International Development ASHA, Lalgadh will construct a new building to house an operation theater complex, a hospital laundry and housekeeping unit, guest accommodations and a new cafeteria. The grant also includes renovating some existing facilities like the training kitchen and existing dining hall.

Thank you for supporting this new undertaking and all the work ahead!

Happy Brother's Day!

Subani and Anisha live in Nepal, near our hospital partner, Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital. They're the two youngest children in their family.

When Subani developed a strange patch on his face, his family took him to Lalgadh right away. Subani was diagnosed with leprosy and began multi-drug therapy (MDT) immediately. Because of this prompt care, when Subani and Anisha's mother found a similar patch on Anisha's arm, she knew Lalgadh would help and that the disease was curable.

With your support, Lalgadh has been working in Subani and Anisha's area for 25 years, so people have very little stigma around leprosy. This is one of the goals of our work at American Leprosy Missions!

Together, we are renewing hope for children like Subani and Anisha every day--thank you!

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

Happy Mother's Day!
Today we celebrate the countless gifts and sacrifices mothers make, how they create new life for their children and communities.

Sunnapu was one of the women leaders in our first WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) project in India. She has two children: a son in elementary school and a toddler daughter. Keeping her family healthy and safe is important to Sunnapu, but after training in our project, Sunnapu was able to take her skills beyond her family and into the broader community.

“I'm responsible for 231 households and work with WASH committees at local schools. I’ve identified two deformity cases of leprosy in this village and encouraged them to do self-care.”

Facilitating toilet construction, referring sick people to the hospital, educating her neighbors--it's all in a day's work for women leaders like Sunnapu!

Like Sunnapu and mothers around the world, we're driven by faith and compassion. Every person is made in the image of God and deserves access to healing and the opportunity to flourish. By disrupting the devastating effects of diseases like leprosy, we help people heal physically and spiritually so they can experience renewed hope and live whole lives.

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

Yesterday was Hand Hygiene Day!

Cleaning our hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases, from common colds to COVID-19.

Our WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) programs in India and Nepal prioritize clean water access and usage, working with local governments to improve infrastructure and helping communities to improve hygiene practices, like handwashing at this school in Nepal.

With your generous support, we are breaking the barriers that prevent marginalized and suffering people from living whole lives!

During World Immunization Week, we never forget the pressing need for a leprosy vaccine to STOP the transmission of leprosy and PROTECT people from the disease.

The suffering caused by neglected diseases like leprosy is a solvable problem. Every person affected is made in the image of God and deserves access to healing and the opportunity to flourish.

Learn more about LepVax, the leprosy-specific vaccine soon to begin Phase 1b/2a trials:
https://leprosy.org/leprosy-vaccine/

Sarita (woman on the right side of the photo) is one of our dear friends, and she works as a counselor at Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital in Nepal.

But as a young woman, she was ostracized by her community because she had leprosy. She even had to leave school

“I did not have any hope of finding a husband or having children. I was brokenhearted. I was living in deep hopelessness. I thought that I should just kill myself because there was no point in living.”

Thanks to your support for our partner hospitals, Sarita found hope! Read her story here: https://leprosy.org/2021/12/sarita-nepal/

Today is !

With your faithful support, we are committed to breaking barriers to health and renewing hope for people suffering from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like leprosy.

Mamy B. lives in rural DR Congo; she and her husband operate a farm. In 2006, she showed the first signs of the NTD lymphatic filariasis (LF), which causes painful fluid retention and lower limb swelling.

"I wanted to study, but at the end of high school, the LF came. I was working in the field, but now I can’t."

Over time, Mamy's pain and ulcers became worse. She nearly despaired because of her leg's condition and her inability to work on the farm like she used to.

In 2021, a pastor in our Faith Leaders Project met Mamy and helped her to learn self-care practices and get assistance from our Christian partner hospital: IME Kimpese.

"My hope is to become well, to be healed," Mamy says. "This is my only dream."

Thanks to your support for our Faith Leaders Project, Mamy has hope for her future!

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Happy Easter from American Leprosy Missions.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!"
- 2 Corinthians 5:17

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

On Good Friday, we remember Christ's suffering and death, and we also remember that he is near to anyone who is suffering.

Thank you for standing with us to channel Christ's love to people affected by neglected diseases. You are restoring hope and offering healing!

"Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed."
- Isaiah 53:4-5

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

As we start Holy Week, or Passion Week, for many Christians around the world, we remember Jesus' ministry among suffering people and the hope he brought by healing bodies and souls. His life, death and resurrection show us what it means to live in God's Kingdom.

Thank you for walking alongside us in our ministry to continue Christ's work by breaking barriers to health and renewing hope for people suffering the pain and stigma of neglected tropical diseases like leprosy.
This deep hope and healing is part of how we proclaim the gospel!

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography

On World Water Day, we remember that a critical aspect of water safety is mosquito prevention! 🚰 🦟

This month, two of our projects in India came together to make sure thousands of people are protected from mosquitos and the neglected diseases they spread, like lymphatic filariasis.

Our technology partners at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad (IIPH) helped bring a drone 🚁 to several of our Jagruti project sites in Bihar (with LEPRA Society). These four areas have ponds and other water sources 💧 that are challenging to reach with mosquito treatments.

Thanks to IIPH and Rajendra Agricultural University-Pusa, the drone sprayed these areas and 64,000 households 🏡 are safer!

Since this is the first time drones were used for mosquito control in Bihar, everyone wanted to see the drone up close once it landed... 👀

Photo credit: Dr. Suresh Munuswamy

Last August, we visited our Christian partner hospital, IME Kimpese, in DR Congo. On this trip, ALM’s senior director of research and innovation, Dr. Sundeep Chaitanya Vedithi, traveled to a remote health center and used a Biomeme qPCR machine to diagnose two children with Buruli ulcer (BU).

Eunice was one of those children. Thanks to this prompt diagnosis, Eunice's arm is healing now!

Normally, it takes weeks–even months–for people suffering from BU to learn their test results.
The Biomeme machine can run the test in under an hour!
Your support for American Leprosy Missions makes stories like Eunice's possible.

On , we praise God for the women we work with around the world who educate their communities about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), provide critical medical care and pursue innovative solutions that will make a difference to their neighbors living with NTDs.

Their lives exemplify hope, perseverence and faithfulness!

Photo credit: Tom Bradley Photography, top and middle right photos

We just visited one of our Christian partners in Nigeria: St. Joseph's Hospital, supported by RedAid Nigeria!

We saw firsthand the medical supplies from our recent shipment--thank you for your faithful gifts to pay shipping fees! Mr. Okey Ugwu coordinated shipment logistics (photo below with Jim Oehrig, ALM's VP of Integral Mission & Partner Engagement)

While at St. Joseph's, we met several patients like Itokenaan (14 years old). He had a terrible ulcer on his left leg caused by the flesh-eating disease, Buruli ulcer. Another Christian hospital referred Itokenaan to St. Joseph's, so he and his father traveled almost 300 miles for treatment!

Now that Itokenaan has had a skin graft surgery, his leg will be able to heal and regain some mobility. The nurse, Rita Ajiero, shows on her phone what Itokenaan's wound looked like before surgery. Your support is making hope and healing possible around the world!

When we meet people touched by our ministry, we usually only see them once.
But in Georgina's case, we met her twice!

Georgina lives in rural Ghana. We first met her when she was nine years old and recovering from a terrible case of Buruli ulcer. Thanks to your faithful support for ALM and our partners, Georgina received the cure and several skin grafts at Agogo Hospital so she could heal.

Now, Georgina still lives with severe scarring that concerns her family, but she has the same beautiful smile and is free from this terrible disease!

Find Georgina's story here: https://ow.ly/w5BL50QFomO
Photos credit: Tom Bradley Photography

Today is Valentine's Day AND Ash Wednesday for many Christians around the world.
Love is interconnected with repentence, lament and mercy. We encounter and practice all these things as we seek to follow Christ and serve others in His name.

Sangeeta's story was full of hopelessness and fear until she visited our Christian partner hospital, Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital & Services Centre, Nepal. Your practical love is making a difference!

Sangeeta, Nepal - American Leprosy Missions Sangeeta is a member of Nepal's Sada caste, who are frequently outcasts in their communities.

A week of strategizing and planning for the future!
As a dispersed, international team, the made us even more grateful for the ability to travel and gather in person.

We feel energized for where God is leading us next!

Have you heard the news?

OUR news?

There's a quarterly update waiting for you!
Thanks to your faithful partnership, we have news for you every quarter about the impact you create across the world.

In this issue, read how we almost didn't make it to a project site because of terrible road conditions: https://ow.ly/2GQ950QyzR5

(Group photo from Effect Hope. Our program manager, Tia Akpan, is in the middle in the floral shirt)

From Ghana to India, we are celebrating World NTD Day with our partners around the world!

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like leprosy affect one billion people around the world. More than 40 million of those live with disabilities caused by NTDs.

On , we celebrate the 50 countries that have eliminated at least one NTD, bringing us closer to the WHO Roadmap target of 100 countries by 2030! And we also celebrate our dedicated partners--churches, researchers, health ministries, nonprofits, people's organizations--who are dedicated to continuing the fight to

Photos credit: Ghana Health Service and LEPRA Society

Dhanmati developed leprosy patches but was not correctly diagnosed for over a year. However, after a year of continuous Multi Drug Therapy medication, she has been completely cured. Read Dhanmati’s story: https://bit.ly/3RX4EPq

Globally, more than 10,000 child leprosy cases are reported each year, which is a clear indication that disease transmission is happening in communities. When we invest in leprosy work, we can .

Did you know? Leprosy still exists. In fact, hundreds of new cases are found every day around the world. Leprosy is a slow-growing bacillus that causes nerve damage and can lead to disfigurement and disabilities. People with leprosy face illness, rejection, and discrimination. They often lose their ability to work and end up in extreme poverty.

However, leprosy is curable! And access to treatment in the early stages of the disease can prevent long term disability.

By standing together on and every day, we build a more inclusive world where those affected by leprosy can lead healthy, fulfilling lives, free from discrimination and social injustice.

“When I got leprosy, my mum was very worried. People used to tease me about my patches. When the community would all dress up on Sundays for church the ladies used to tease me about what skin lightening cream I was using.” – Read Asi’s story: https://bit.ly/3voVF1G

“As I was born here, I know the disadvantage of leprosy, and I lost hope. I thought with this, I’ll lose sensitivity and not be able to do anything with my life. I was fearful that it would eventually kill me.” Read Remy’s story: http://bit.ly/41S1gcW

Sangeeta was expelled from her village, separated from her children, beaten, and abandoned by her husband. The reason? She suffers from leprosy. Today let’s end the suffering caused by this disease. Read Sangeeta's story. https://bit.ly/3voTtHu