Filling a Void: Faith Leaders Rebuilding Hope in DR Congo 

As part of the psychological and spiritual training we provide for pastors and church leaders in DR Congo, our Christian partner hospital, IME – Kimpese, held a trauma healing session in the spring. Of the 97 faith leaders trained so far this year, 33 attended this first trauma training, and the lessons each leader took away are already having a powerful impact:

“I knew a cruel father during my childhood. His love for me did not at all help me to understand the love of God. I learnt a lot from the trauma healing training regarding the issues that gnaw at my heart, and I found that I was holding several wounds inside me without knowing it. It was hard for me to forgive, especially my father. I had time to recognize in myself all these wounds, I spread them on paper that I brought to the cross during this session.”

 – Rev. Tshiamala Mutombo Serge

Thank you for your commitment to building leaders who are equipped with Christ’s healing and love.

Breaking Barriers to Care in Ghana

This quarter, our four projects with Christian partners in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire finished a year of working in their communities to help churches, schools and health centers learn about neglected tropical diseases like leprosy. When more people are aware of what these diseases are and how they’re treated, suffering people receive better care and stigma decreases.

In June, our Ghanian partner, the Northern Empowerment Association (NEA), held a three day training on NTDs identification, diagnosis and treatment for staff at Leyaata Hospital and several of NEA’s project officers. ALM’s program manager, Solomon Atinbire, assisted several trainers from the Ghana Health Service to lead the event. 

Doctors, physician’s assistants, nurses, technicians–the participants held a variety of roles at the hospital, but they all wanted to learn how to provide diagnosis and care for people affected by neglected diseases like leprosy. Eleven people affected by NTDs volunteered to help participants learn practical aspects of patient care, like wound dressing and testing skin patches for sensation (loss of sensation is a symptom of leprosy).  

Thank you for supporting these health workers as they prepare to break barriers for their community and give suffering people the attention and care they need!  

Specialized Care Reaches Remote Locations in India 

Thanks to your support of the Jagruti project, Kalyanpur’s community health center in Bihar opened a weekly NTD clinic on World NTD Day: January 30, 2023. As the year continues, we’ve seen the benefit of this dedicated time to serve people suffering from NTDs. From April – June, 257 people affected by leprosy and lymphatic filariasis (LF) attended the weekly clinic, bringing the clinic’s total to 351 this year.

After observing this steady stream of patients, the health center incorporated the NTD clinic into general outpatient services, insuring that care will continue as part of the center’s activities.

The NTD clinic has also been producing specialized footwear for people affected by leprosy or lymphatic filariasis (LF). Our project’s technicians have two approaches: making the footwear manually, and learning from our Christian partner hospital, the Schieffelin Institute, how to scan patients’ feet with a CAD-CAM scanner. Schieffelin can produce custom insoles from  these scans and mail them back to Bihar!

Several of Schieffelin’s Prosthtics & Orthotics (P&O) staff came to Bihar in June to train the shoe technicians and physical therapists. In total, we’ve produced 370 pairs of custom footwear for people affected by leprosy and LF in Bihar.

Without your support, these 370 people would not have access to this level of care. Thank you for restoring dignity and hope in India! 

Your Impact in India and Nepal 

Thanks to your generous partnership, the Jagruti WASH + NTD projects in Bihar, India and in Nepal had an incredible impact on their communities this year. Discover how your support is changing lives!