Ackworth Leprosy Home

We celebrated the festival of lights and hope (Diwali) with the inmates of Ackworth Leprosy home. Leprosy apart from being one of the mostly ghastly of human diseases is also, unfortunately, treated as a social stigma. We realized that not all the people living there were suffering from leprosy, many were treated and tested negative for the disease, but because of their external physical deformity the society did not accept them. So to make this day extra special for them and show our support towards these wonderful people we arranged for a grand diwali celebration. We lit diyas and decorated the place with a beautiful rangoli to give a festive touch to the celebration.

We had one person from the Laughter Club , he actually had everybody literally in splits. Then was a DJ who played some fabulous music, and all kshana members got the inmates on the dance floor and we ensured that everyone danced. We saw smiles like never before. It felt like a victory for us to make these people happy because they all seemed to had forgotten how to smile. After this we served them a special Diwali meal.

There were many inmates who were handicapped and could not attend the program. we went individually to serve them lunch and also had the opportunity to talk to them one on one. The situation moved a lot of us to tears.

As we organize more events we realize, that each and every less privileged person has a right to entertainment, just like we all do. A lot of them have forgotten to smile or may be they don’t have a reason to smile and that’s where we are proud of what we are doing for the society spreading smiles and happiness…

- This article has been written by Namrata V