Laura Talbot, a recent visitor to Lalgadh Leprosy Services Centre, has just run in the Cardiff Half Marathon to raise funds for NLT. Laura wrote the following about her visit:

…….Over the weeks I spent at Lalgadh (LLSC) I realised how much more there is to LLSC, and that even my first impressions of size and beauty underestimated the holistic and comprehensive approach to the love and care of the patients; both in the hospital setting and also in community work and empowerment projects going on behind the scenes. LLSC treats not only the physical manifestations of leprosy; but fights to eliminate the stigma and poverty that make the disease so devastating.

I was to learn during my stay at Lalgadh that the medical side to the treatment of leprosy was insufficient alone. Acceptance by their community is very important. This comes from effective self care, which leads to self-confidence and is a key to the leprosy affected person’s well-being.  One of the highlights of my stay at LLSC was being present for a Nepali woman’s labour. It was absolutely wonderful to be right in the middle of such a special moment. The woman has 5 girls and desperately wanted a son. It is very important in the Hindu culture to have a male in the family line to set light to the funeral pyre. Her husband had even got a second wife to try and have a boy. So I was so excited when I saw it was a baby boy. He was perfectly formed and weighed 3kg. I was grinning all day long! I felt that the Nepali people also had a different approach to their health. While here people expect to have a pain-free life – free from disease and hardship, in Nepal it seems that people generally expect pain as part of life. They cope with a disease burden until it gets in the way of their everyday life or labour, and then find a way to manage the disease. The staff at Lalgadh hospital are very friendly and welcoming, their hard work and patience is inspiring, especially in such hot conditions!

Laura can still be sponsored via the Just Giving website (click here).