In Biblical times, when a person infected with leprosy traveled anywhere he might encounter people, he was required to shout "Unclean! Unclean!" to warn others not to come near for fear of contamination. Leprosy is most common in warm, wet areas in the tropics and subtropics: the World Health Organization estimates that of the10-12 million patients with the disease, fully half are in Africa and India. Leprosy in all ages has been considered one of the more despicable diseases, and victims have been despised throughout history and kept in separate places, like leper colonies. Here was another group of people, Mother Teresa thought, who were not just forgotten about by society but actively shunned and spurned. People with this disease do not cease to become people, and are too God's creations. So began the Leprosy Centre Titagarh in 1975, about 45 minutes outside Calcutta near the train tracks.
Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that attacks the skin, peripheral nerves and mucous membranes (eyes, respiratory tract). To contract leprosy, one needs to be low nourished or have weak immunity systems; healthy people usually don't contract leprosy when exposed. The disease damages nerves and causes numbness: as an Indian leper walks barefoot, case in point, he or she may not feel the ground, and can easily develop cuts or ulcers. Unaware of such injury, wounds become infected, go untreated, and extremities (toes) can be lost as a result. The sad part is that leprosy is an easily treatable disease; it simply goes untreated.
Most every "resident" at Titagarh is missing fingers and toes. I know because I saw them. Susan, Rita, Clare and I visited Titagarh one morning, and it was not what I expected. It wasn't a Ghetto of the Damned; it wasn't filled with moaning people in sorrow and pain. There was no suffering to be seen: these people were happy. Titagarh was a hive of activity: men and women busily worked at their thread wheels or looms weaving the saris and towels used by Missionaries of Charity homes across the world. Children were in the classroom learning "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in four languages. The gardens were filled with leafy green vegetables and brightly colored flowers. Residents smiled at us and wanted us to take their picture. When I took a photo with my digital camera, I was able to show the person the picture immediately, which absolutely delighted them to see themselves. One man was giving a wall a fresh coat of bright blue paint. I passed a woman to whom I gave the traditional Indian greeting (my hands in prayer), and she responded by placing her bandaged, fingerless hands together in prayer as well. The schoolteacher explained to us what the children were learning that day, and had them perform for us their ABC's and to sing us songs: when they were done, the teacher applauded the children. I noticed he was missing most of his fingers. This educated, dignified man in a suit and tie was a resident! This place was an oasis.
Titagarh is virtually self-sufficient. Eight MC Brothers (men can be part of the Missionaries of Charity, as brothers or fathers) are in charge of Titagarh, with various helpers and volunteers along side. Titagarh contains a dispensary for medical treatment, hospital facilities, private family dwellings, acres of vegetable gardens, rice and wheat "mill," a shoe cobbler, a prosthetic workshop and classrooms for children. There are 600 residents, all of whom have been treated for leprosy, and almost all of whom have deformities of some sorts. As there is still a serious stigma in India of having leprosy, these people would be unable to get jobs on the outside. Titagarh allows them to belong, to have purpose. Titagarh is a place that restores dignity. Since its opening over 65,000 people have been treated for leprosy. Those are 65,000 people that received some level of respect, grace and love . . . they were not in fact "unclean." To date, a leper colony is the prettiest, happiest place I've seen in all of Calcutta.
