START’s Rehabilitation Centre

Every obstacle we have overcome over the last 6 years of being a registered charity, has brought us closer to our goal. Raising funds, then wading through the red tape to be granted permission from the Indian Government so that we could utilize those funds, have all taken their own time. After achieving these the next challenge was finding someone in Nagpur who was willing to lease their property for the purpose of establishing a dedicated rehabilitation centre for the women we care for. Two months of searching the lengths and breadths of the city brought immediate rejection by concerned landlords that their property was going to be utilized for the cause of leprosy.
At a point when we were seriously concerned that we’d never find a suitable base for the charity’s work, out of the blue the most perfect property made itself known.

A three roomed space with bathing and toileting facilities, facing off the main road onto a private garden, seemed too good to be true after our exhaustive search. The owner was an unusually enlightened pharmacist whose own chemist was right next door. This made it convenient for us to get medicines when ever needed and of course it worked well for his business. The best part of this was that the location was right in the heart of a slum area where the prevalence of leprosy is high and where most of our ladies live.

The decorating began, new flooring, new furniture all funded by the Rotary clubs of the North East of England. – indeed all the equipment (examination couches, sterilizers, medical supplies, etc) have been funded by Rotary.

The centre provides at long last a haven for our ladies; somewhere they can call their own, providing exclusive care when ever they require it. We noticed that once the ladies started coming they would admire the posh surroundings and then turn up the following day with their best saris on! clearly feeling a sense of pride in the Centre.

New staff have greatly enhanced the charity’s work. A receptionist, medical assistant, nurse, driver, medical officer (physician) and many other visiting consultants’ specilising in Orthopaedics, Gynaecology and Psychiatry have substantially developed our level and quality of care. Many of our ladies have been denied access to medical care; even today we face opposition from hospitals when admitting a cured case of leprosy for any other medical problem

Operating for over a year now the Center has enriched the level of activities and care which START provides in ways we couldn’t have anticipated. It enables us to do so much more and to reach out to more women. Today we are catering to female paients from states outside of Maharashtra. Women from all over India visit us to receive medical check ups, clothing, footwear, medication, the list is long.

Another advantage to having a base is that when trying to re-establish links between the patients and their families, it provides a neutral place for both sides to meet. Those families who feel concerned that reintroducing someone who has had leprosy might prevent the younger female generation of the family from getting marriage proposals, use the Centre on a weekly or monthly basis so that they can meet up with the concerned individual. Encouraging and maintaining family ties has a very positive effect on a patient’s rehabilitation.

Yoga classes are held every morning, encouraging both physical and psychological development. Many of our ladies have been scarred mentally so yoga complements and can even replace psychiatric medication.

Washing and clothing our elderly patients, a place to meet and chat, a place even to just come an spend time when feeling lonely.; our rehabilitation Centre provides whatever the individual requires – Just knowing there is somewhere to come to in a moment of need can make all the difference.