When Shakti was 10 years old, she noticed the first symptoms of leprosy. “Both my legs got blisters, and they kept coming back. I had a big wound on my left foot. It became really hard to walk from home to school.” Even at home, it became harder to do her chores, and her parents didn’t let her leave the house. They were afraid of how their neighbors would act around Shakti, since there is a lot of stigma and superstition still associated with leprosy. Shakti remembers, “My father used to say, ‘You are my daughter and I love you, but others don’t, so you must stay inside.’ It made me anxious and angry, and I cried a lot.”

Shakti was able to get the multi-drug therapy to cure leprosy, but she continued to have problems with her legs. Finally Shakti found her way to Anandaban Hospital. Sadly, her left foot was so severely damaged that the doctors made the difficult decision to amputate it.

Shakti is recovering at Anandaban before returning home, healing and adjusting to her new reality. The amputation is hard for her and her family, but thankfully Anandaban’s expert care includes a counselor who helps Shakti process her experience.

Soon, she will be able to start physical therapy and learn to use an artificial limb. With this support, Shakti can begin to imagine a new chapter for her life: she is eager to finish her education and find a good job.

Closer and Closer to a New Level of Care

Soon, Anandaban will manage surgeries like Shakti’s in their new building, housing an ICU, two surgery theaters, and a ward for new mothers and babies.

Thanks to your faithful support and two multi-year grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program, Anandaban is on its way to operating at full capacity. The hospital has had limited resources for emergency care and surgeries for almost 7 years, ever since Nepal’s 2015 earthquake destroyed their old ICU.

Without an ICU, Anandaban has to turn away patients that they used to help. As the only hospital in their region, this gap in services has an enormous impact on local communities.

Thanks to your gifts, Anandaban will soon have the ability to treat these patients again!

When the building is complete, Anandaban will be able to furnish it with new equipment, air conditioning units, X-ray machines and more. You are helping to build a spacious, earthquake-safe and disability-friendly hospital for thousands of underserved people – people like Shakti – to receive care and the love of Christ. Thank you!