A Different View of Leprosy

Spent the last week visiting remote villages in the state of Orissa, about 700 kms south of Calcutta. What an experience to travel to rural places and photograph leprosy cases in their homes and places of work. The treatment and support services are fully integrated into the health care system and I witnessed an incredible commitment to the elimination of this disease from the state leprosy officer all the way down to the volunteer health care workers in the villages. I wasn't prepared for how physically hard this project would be. We spent on average 12 hours a day visiting communities on bad roads and temperatures of 35 to 40 degrees. It was all worth it. The face of leprosy is very different in the communities. The stigma related to the disease is slowly being replaced community support. Photographs will be posted when I get back to Toronto.