Many of the patients struggle with recurring ulcers. The skin of a leprosy patient is prone to rashes, drying, and breaking. These breaks become easily infected in the colony atmosphere. The patients also cope with a loss of pain in their extremities. What would seem like a blessing to most people is actually their greatest curse, because without the natural protection of pain, the patients easily and continually injure their limbs.

Food supplies are extremely limited. Begging normally provides less than a dollar a day. The patients feel lucky when they have enough rice. Usually dirty water rounds out their diet. In the government homes, the government provides simple meals, but in the colonies hunger is a constant problem.

The difficulty of transportation makes it challenging for the patients to receive regular or proper medical attention. Similar to diabetes patients, wounds on a leprosy patient are slow to heal. Before long, the wounds will become gangrenous and sometimes even infested by maggots, requiring amputation.

Recognizing the need to address these issues directly, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh and Ellen Morton contributed the necessary means to establish the first Rising Star Outreach mobile medical clinic in April of 2005. Dr. Mani Balu, head of pediatrics at Uniontown Hospital in Pennsylvania, agreed to join the board as our medical advisor. He now donates more than half of his time working in India with the clinic. Dr. Krishnakanth, a rising star in Chennai’s medical community, heads the daily operations and has now become a trusted friend and visitor among the Leprosy patients.

Together with their medical team, the doctors have truly worked miracles as they travel from colony to colony, healing. They have been recognized by the governor of the State for their tireless efforts in the Leprosy colonies. Having eliminated the need for the patients to travel outside the colony for care, the patients are now receiving consistent treatment for ulcers and other health issues. Significant progress towards a healthier standard of living is slowly becoming a reality.

The Perpetual Education Fund

Even if disease free, children of the leprosy-affected bear the same stigma as their parents. The only way to stop the generational cycle of begging is through education.

Each year, we welcome new students to our campus at Rising Star, but there are many that are turned away after we have reached our maximum. These children could still benefit from an education at a local school, but are not able to attend because they cannot afford a simple bus ticket let alone mandatory school supplies, and required uniforms.

Rising Star Outreach would like to help every child in the colonies with the opportunity of an education. The Perpetual Colony Education Fund provides the financial resources necessary to help these children attend school. Parents in the leprosy colonies are provided a small loan. As the loan is paid back, the family can then “borrow” it again year after year, thus making it a perpetual fund.

The beauty of this program is that for the incredibly small price of less than 7000 rupees, we can provide opportunity for 12 years of schooling! The families are still taking responsibility for their children’s education, and the process invokes a commitment to success since the family is personally invested.

We believe that in the long run, the success of the children will do more to raise the standard of living in the leprosy colonies than any of our other initiatives. Their ability to gain an education, however meager, will do more to negate the stigma that dogs their lives than any other single thing we do.