Just imagine being ostracized from your family, from your homes, your village, everything you know. The people who love you most in the world send you away because of a disease. This disease defines you and dictates who you are, and all you can be. This disease is leprosy. Their only comfort being the friendship they receive from other lepers; people, who understand the most that this disease is just a disease. In Musoma, Tanzania, there is a community just for people like this. 45 lepers make up the colony, fending for themselves, begging one day a week to make enough money to live off. No water, no sanitation, no help, no hope. These people are elderly and dying from the effects of leprosy and it is up to us, through God, to provide the hope they so desperately need.

We will be building water tanks,  administering health care and education, setting up and running a feeding programme which will also guide young mothers and fathers on how best to raise a family, implementing sustainable projects the Lepers can run to generate an income, and everything else that comes with developing a whole community. Most of all we want to see their lives touched by God and see all of their spiritual and physical needs met.

Thank you. Much love, Em, Em and Em x

Christina’s story:

One lady called Christina had the most profound affect upon us all. We didn't get to meet Christina until about a week after our initial visit because she didn't live in the same houses the lepers did. Each one of these lepers has been exiled from their families and homes, which for us is unimaginable. However, Christina was further exiled to live with the animals in the shed behind one of the houses, because according to the lepers, she was mentally ill and therefore not allowed to live where they lived. We instantly felt drawn to her because of her inconceivable situation and her incredible fragility. So we bought her a mattress, clothes because she had known, a pillow, blankets, mosquito net and pieces of local material, ‘Kanga’. Yet when we went back to see her the next morning, all of her gifts were neatly packed up. The other lepers couldn't understand why we would give gifts to a lady who is mentally ill and doesn't appreciate them. Christina's reason was that she wanted to wash before she could sleep on her mattress. This carried on for a number of days, with Christina still not washing. So after about a week, we took her by the hand, led her out of her shed for the first time in months, walked her to the water tank and filled up her basin. We left her as she washed herself and put on the orange dress we bought her. We couldn't stop crying seeing her looking so beautiful! Christina wasn't mentally ill; she is a very old, fragile lady that was too weak to physically fill up her basin. The following are scenes we'll ever be able to erase from our memories. The sight of a marginalised lady being welcomed back into the community with clapping and singing, and for the first time, a smile. God is good.