WORKING HANDS is a UK Registered Charity that raises funds for a surgical programme, currently based at a leprosy hospital in Nepal, supporting a team of Hand Surgeons who travel there to operate and to teach the local surgeons. Working Hands is independent, not linked to any major organization, and all donated funds find their way directly to the front line of treatment, purchasing equipment and consumables for each trip.
The Surgeons give their time for free. On each visit, some 60 patients undergo surgery to restore function to their hands, enabling them to work, earn a living, support dependants and regain their self dignity. The project is currently working in Lalgadh, near Janatpur in the south east flat agricultural part of Nepal. Virtually all patients are illiterate farmers whose only resource is what they can earn with manual labour. This surgery makes a real and immediate difference to their lives. Read more…
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Leprosy is still endemic to many countries
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Those affected will often have paralyzed hands and feet
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The infection can be cured by drugs but the paralysis is permanent
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It is possible to operate on these hands to restore function
The word ‘Leprosy’ evokes figures swathed in rags, living in caves or huts, colonies where they go to die, shunned by society – for many, the images recalled from one’s childhood viewing of ‘Ben Hur’. Many are surprised that this medieval disease still exists. In fact the WHO registered half a million new leprosy patients during 2007 and has treated some 14 million sufferers since 1985. Leprosy is endemic to South America, Central Africa, parts of Asia. India has the largest single proportion of these cases, with Brasil and Indonesia recording the next most significant incidence. Read further…
