Leper Colony

The greatest wealth is health. ~Virgil

Today we went to the leper colony.

On the way there, we saw elephant rock. We can also see it from the hospital.

When we drove into the area it wasn’t an enclosed area as I had expected, and the people are by no means quarantined. It is just like a small, jail-like village---except people can leave if they want to. There were lawn chairs set up in rows for us and we sat down and listened to a doctor, whom I couldn’t really understand. There were people walking about it pretty ragged clothing and some just sitting and not really doing anything but existing. It was ver

y quiet and dull compared to the rest of the loud and bright India I have seen. Not dull in the sense of boring, but sad and depressing. There was a sick ward that the doctor talked about, but all it really was was a row of one room sized homes all together where the sick people stayed. We got a tour of the kitchen and saw the days lunch for the ‘inmates’ as the doctor called them. All it was was a bunch of rice spread between two blankets on 4 crates the size of the seed ones we use at home. One of the girls in our group asked if any of them are depressed before we went to see the colony and Uma said that they have horrid stories to share and that some of their body parts had ‘melted’ away, which we soon saw. We went into some of the backs of shed type buildings and saw some women working. For some of the people who end up with fingers and ability, they put them to work. The first lady we saw was making straw mats for the people to sleep on. She had some knubs for fingers left as you can see. She gets paid 1.5 rupees, which is close to nothing. The mats are made in the colony and used in the colony. Here she is: Notice her fingers up close.

The second lady we saw was making the bandages that the people use to wrap their (for the most part, toeless) feet, ulcers, bed sores, etc. She was wrapping and wrapping string around a wheel, that was wet. I accidentally brushed against one of the ones she had made and it was wet. Here she is and the other is a picture of the wet bandages drying

The next woman we saw was making what I presume was cloth. She was not affected by leprosy but came to the colony with a Christian group where she met her husband. They got married in the colony and have lived here since. She has two children, 2 and 4 years old, that go to school. Her husband only has a few patches on his skin and has all of his limbs and digits. Here she is

It is not uncommon, from these people’s stories, for 1) a woman or man to be admitted into this colony and then get married to someone else in the colony to have children. From what my translator Usha said and the way the people talked, women in general and at the leper colony will have ‘no protection’ if they don’t get married. She also said that only about 5-10% of marriages in Tamil Nadu were ‘love’ marriages and now about 10-20% are ‘love’ marriages. By love marriages I mean when two people just fall in love. (Usha told all of this to me) She said love marriages are looked down upon, like falling in love is a mistake. She said her parents didn’t want her to fall in love and it’s only ok if the people have a lot of money. She said that the three main religions (Hindu, Muslim, Christian---in that order) marry only within that religion and that in her religion (Hindu) that they only married within their caste, or social class. They wouldn’t marry someone with less money. She was surprised to hear about my dating past and how we broke up and how it was all for love. She was interested in why people would break up in the states and asked she asked Emily if her parents were mad that she fell in love. She says she will do as her parents wish, as far as marriage goes. She also said that male domination is present here and she asked how it was in the states. I told her that we play equal roles in our relationships and that it is looked down upon for a male to be very dominating. She also said that 8 or 9 out of 10 men will cheat on their wives and only 1 or 2 women out of 10 will cheat on their husbands. She said in love marriages that sometimes they will say it is ok and sacrifice anything for the one they love. One of the hospital staff here said that rather than suggesting limiting partners to reduce chances of cervical cancer, saying to be loyal to your husband/wife, which is a much bigger issue here. Here is Usha:

She and the other translators also came and ate lunch with us at the hospital. They thought the meal that had been prepared for us was very bland. It was chicken, spiced vegetables, tomato soup okra, and fresh juices. I thought it was delicious! I showed her my ID when I had long hair in the states and she asked me “You were fatter then?” and I was like, oh maybe….with big eyes. Dad, you needed to be there to teach her to never comment on a woman’s weight!! J She is a doing hospital administration pos graduate studies. After we saw the woman making thread we went into one of the rows of buildings and talked to the man making shoes. For the most part, people aren’t doing anything because they are not able, but some people are assigned work. They make soft shoes with straps across the thicker part of the foot because most people have few or no toes. Here he is with a nurse that works there. Notice the artificial leg on one side:

This is a picture of the open space down the middle of the buildings. It looks pretty here, but it was dirty and sad. The buildings have small rooms made of cement with open doors. There is a sewer system from the people washing pots etc that you can see at the right of this picture.

This next picture of four ladies that were sitting outside of their room/home.

The one standing was blessing us for a healthy, happy future with an education. She stood up later and wished us blessings and blessings for generations. People are old at the leper colony and for the most part and dying. The nurse said that ~100 people have died from last year. There is a total of 200 people left at the colony, 160 are affected with leprosy and 40 are just family members/supporters. The doctor said that if a husband in a marriage gets leprosy the woman expected to go with him and support him but if the woman gets leprosy that the man can choose/may or may not support and stay with the woman. Again, most people seemed to have come to colony and met and married there. The other one is a closeup of one of the ladies. This lady had serious eye problems and no fingers as you can see. The other ladies were telling her who we were and what we looked like because she can’t see. Her hands are in the position that means ‘thank you’ or ‘its an honor’ or ‘bless you’.

This man was in the ‘sick ward’ or a line of rooms where sick people went. To me, all it meaned was that they got extra attention because they couldn’t get around/fend for themselves. As you can see he has no fingers and now lower legs. He also has sores from the cement he is on. He showed us the way he eats. They wrap a bracelet around his hands and he sticks a spoon in it to eat. Also, our doctor Uma said that leprosy can affect the nose bridge and said that this man’s facial structure was different because of it.

We talked to these two women by means of our translator, Usha. The bald one (which you almost never see. Everyone has long long beautiful hair that is normally braided, so I imagine lice was the issue. My friend Sriya that I am sitting next to said it is very common here.) She was diagnosed at age 13 and has been at the colony since. She got married there when she got to the colony (at age 13!!!!) and had 2 kids. The other lady with the glasses never got married. That’s all people wanted to share—was whether they had kids or not and how healthy and successful their kids were. It is very good to be fertile here. Women try to get pregnant right after marriage to prove their fertility.

This is the same woman with her antibiotic leprosy pills.

We asked her her favorite food and she said she is ready to eat anything because she can’t taste anything because of the pills. We (Meenakshi hospital) are sending food there later this week and we are also going to buy something for them as a group. Their lives are so dreary. They are just waiting to die. One man wouldn’t take his pills and he told the nurse that he didn’t want to live depending on other people and would rather just die.

This woman was not affected by leprosy, but came here because her husband has it. I don't think she could see us but could hear us scurrying around and started trying to talk.

She could barely speak and said she had been here for 36 years. A murder in prison=15 years in prison here…. She had lost the ability to speak for the past 10 years. It was so upsetting to listen to her that my partner just walked off. I don’t think she could handle it. See her stretched ears. That is popular only here in Southern Tamil Nadu. Lots of older women wear very heavy gold earrings in their ears like that with two fan like diamond nose rings. That’s what I see most often.

We went to the gynecologist to talk to her about our flip book just a minute ago. She said mammograms are not recommended at all unless a woman or doctor finds a lump in her breast….no wonder there breast cancer rates are increasing here. Pap smears are only recommended every year after 5 years of married life. If you get three normal paps in a row you only have to go every three years… On our way back from the gynecology unit there was some students in the hall and one of them talked to us. They were grown women and they just giggled at every question they asked us. People are so amused/interested by our skin color.

I just got home from the hospital and tomorrow just my partner and I will go while others are going to other places (rural villages/schools). Uma, our doctor, is flying to Bangalore tonight to provide a public health view for a womens health conference. I mentioned something about going to a wine shop and he had a nurse bring him in a package. Inside was a bottle of whiskey and red wine for Em and I?.... All of us are meeting up now to go get some beer (choice of like….3 varieties at a very nice place) and chocolate.

Home sweet home. This is the place to find happiness. If one doesn't find it here, one doesn't find it anywhere.

Can't wait to share more with you when I get home. Love ya!