Impact Stories

This is a story of a person named Vikas Saini, 20 years, a single male from Kalana village of Deomia Block in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh. His family-run flower business and he worked as a helper in a local general store in his village. During the data collection for the leprosy perception study under the PEP++ project, the team conducting the study met this person with a unique style- he always talked with other people with his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He was a leprosy patient treated for PB leprosy. When he was further enquired by the team about this, he said that his finger got twisted/curved due to leprosy, that is why he used to meet people and friends less and always keeps his hand in his pocket.

The team examined him and found that there is still flexibility in his fingers. We first gave him self-care training and told him to do that on a daily and regular basis so that his fingers become more flexible and more prone to the surgical processes. The team kept on counseling him, but even after two years he was not fully motivated for getting the reconstructive surgery (RCS) done for correcting his fingers. He was being told that the surgery was free of cost in government hospitals and that he will also be provided with an allowance of Rs. 8000/- there for completion of the treatment.
After much persuasion and motivation, he became ready for surgery. He was admitted to an RCS center in TLM hospital, Naini, and now has returned after getting successful treatment of his finger. He is very much happy and filled with positiveness, as well. He has stopped hiding his hand in his pocket and is now living his life in a better way, also his father told the team during their last visit that now they were looking for a life partner for him.

During the interim visits to his family, the other family members were also examined. It was found that his younger brother and father were also suffering from leprosy, but they were not aware of it. The team got them registered and their treatment was started. Today both are RFT & healthy, and they thank all the people and the NLRIF family that because of one of its projects (here PEP++), we visited the village and they got benefited from it.

He expressed his gratitude by saying – Thank you NLR India Foundation.