‘Someone with leprosy can still have hope, can still have life’.
Godfrey, Chanchaga hospital, Nigeria

 As Easter approaches I would like to tell you the story of Godfrey, a young man who has received God’s gift of hope and the offer of a new beginning, all thanks to the generosity of supporters like you. I met him at Chanchaga hospital, Nigeria when I recently visited some of The Leprosy Mission’s projects with a colleague.

Living in Nigeria, a country that contains a quarter of Africa’s extreme poor, a man like Godfrey could easily have become another despairing individual, lost in the throng of people who daily endure a life of hardship. More than 64% of Nigerians live on less than £1 a day. Poverty is so widespread that many live a hand-to-mouth existence. Very few people have the means to buy mobility aids, or pay for them to be repaired.

The Orthopaedic Workshop at Chanchaga is a lifeline to disabled people, providing free mobility aids to people affected by leprosy, and at low cost to those with other disabling conditions. It has been estimated that there are 17,000 people permanently disabled by leprosy alone in the eight states served by the workshop.

That’s why The Leprosy Mission has committed to raise £89,000 to support Chanchaga Orthopaedic Workshop in 2012. Our promise is part of a five year plan to help develop resources, provide further training for staff, improve the quality of orthopaedic devices manufactured by the workshop, and to meet the needs of even more disabled people.

With your help, we can extend these skills and resources to benefit others. This Easter time, please could you consider a gift to raise someone like Godfrey out of despair, and bring hope of an independent future? Godfrey had formerly worked as a barman in a five star hotel. With his whole life ahead of him, he had every reason to feel optimistic about his future.

However, in 2006, he began to notice that he had started to lose feeling in his hands and feet, and could no longer tell the difference between hot and cold. Unknown to him, Godfrey had leprosy. Although he sought help, doctors didn’t immediately recognise his symptoms. He was unable to continue his work as a barman. It wasn’t until two years later, when an elderly man from his village suggested that Godfrey’s symptoms might be leprosy, that he was finally diagnosed and started treatment.

Sadly, this came too late to prevent the loss of some of Godfrey’s fingers, and he had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. Godfrey’s mother stood by him through this difficult time, but his father died last year, and his brother no longer cares for him. His hopes and plans for the future were slipping away. He told us, ‘When I was diagnosed with leprosy I wanted to kill myself because I thought I had no future, but when I have my new leg I will have my life back again.’

The orthopaedic workshop at the hospital measures, manufactures and fits artificial limbs, and then provides training to patients like Godfrey, teaching them to use their new limb. Through the generosity of supporters like you, a new leg will help Godfrey to earn a livelihood and become self-reliant again.

With your help, Godfrey is positive, looking to the future and joyfully declaring, ‘With my new leg I can be fit as a man again’. He is eager to work once more, and aspires to become a successful businessman, to marry and have a family.

This Easter, please consider a gift to this life-enhancing work.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to The Leprosy Mission and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for The Leprosy Mission.