SOCIAL SERVICE IN BODHGAYA

By Phil Hunt

It is the 21st century and yet there are still people with leprosy. Men with missing fingers, women with missing toes, children with damaged ears and faces. Adriana Ferranti, MAITRI Charitable Trust Director, has explained to me many times how this devastating disease affects the body and the community, yet I always forget the details. What I have not forgotten are the faces of the patients, whether the inpatients at the MAITRI hospital just outside Bodhgaya or those at a field clinic in an outlying village. I remember one of the first field visits I went on with MAITRI staff years ago. An elderly man removed the bandages from his foot to reveal an enormous gaping ulcer. His sandal had rubbed his heel but as his nerves were dead, he didn’t notice until it had become infected. As there is such a social stigma about leprosy, he had been too ashamed to speak up and so it became worse. Fortunately, he was picked up in one of MAITRI’s outreach programs and was now learning how to self-treat injuries and take control of his very treatable condition.

When you look at the figures of those who have been treated for or educated about leprosy in 2009, it is breathtaking.

• leprosy – 1321 high risk cases assessed; 817 disabled cases instructed in self-care; 787 deformed cases trained; 4371 community members trained; 151 government staff members trained; 770 new cases identified and treated; 1470 villages including 430,902 people and 30,554 students given health education lessons; 192 education pictures painted on village walls, and 179 days holding an information stall in Bodhgaya

These figures do not include more serious cases that end up at the small MAITRI hospital or who are sent to a district hospital for more involved care.

MAITRI is known as “the leprosy centre” because the destigmatization and treatment of leprosy has always one of Adriana’s primary missions. Yet what surprisingly few know is how much more MAITRI supports in the local region: tuberculosis control, mother and child care, child immunization, birth control, HIV/AIDS awareness, village schools, adult literacy, water resources and reafforestation, animal care and other special sponsorships and charitable works.

The figures for tuberculosis control projects in 2009 are as impressive as those for leprosy projects:

• tuberculosis control – 837 new cases registered; 605 patients released from treatment; 1453 cases sputum-tested; 448 cases under treatment; 430 patients provided supplements; 424 patients supplied with food; a network of 744 Directly Observed Treatment providers expanded with an additional 1084 providers; 10 new sputum collection points established, and 1682 villages of 522,355 people and 30,544 students given health education lessons

The main reception area  of MAITRI is regularly awash with the bright saris of local mothers and their babies (either in their arms or still in the womb). So much pain and suffering is prevented with early and ongoing monitoring of mothers. There are also always field workers going out to villages where access to care is minimal. The emphasis is twofold – to provide preventative education and early diagnosis of disease, and early intervention and follow-up treatment.

The animal care program is also hard to miss; there are over 90 rescued dogs within the compound! I know this has drawn criticism from some – it can be unsettling, as the dogs will generally bark at strangers. But if you had the misfortune to be reborn as a dog, you would know that every effort will be made to help you at MAITRI, whether you are from the street or

from the temple, on death’s door or a cripple. If you ask Adriana or the staff, “What’s this one’s name?” they can tell you not only her name, but when she was brought in, what her condition was, how difficult it was to save her and fix her wounds and how she is today. Most animal shelters have even more dogs and they are all in small cages, crying for attention. MAITRI’s goats are cared for in a purpose-built large cage and they go out as a flock every day. MAITRI also has a clinic where villagers and others can bring sick or injured animals, and an outreach program for animal care education and assistance.

In 2009, MAITRI celebrated its 20th anniversary. If you were to take just World Leprosy Day and World Tuberculosis Day and see how many people MAITRI touch in their education and health campaigns, it would be difficult to quantify the positive potential generated. You often hear people say: “I don’t want to give money to a charity and see it all go to administration.” I have learned that you can’t run a big charity only on volunteers, but I have also learned that the best charities are committed to minimizing extravagance. I can’t say I know of a charity that puts the comfort of the staff and director at such a low priority relative to getting that little bit extra from donations in order to directly help others as MAITRI does.

When most of us visit a poor country like India, we immediately wish to help and we think of all the ways we could do so based on what is done in our own countries. Then we see how cheap things are and think all it takes is a bit of money, a bit of love and a few weeks time. We may even leave with a glow on our face, thinking that we’ve changed the world. Yet the good work we thought we had done was not owned by the locals, and as soon as the money and energy is used up, things go back to the way they had always been.

MAITRI, however, does not operate in the short term and for the satisfaction of temporary volunteers like me. All its operations involve local Indian staff and volunteers who are committed to the organization’s aims and who participate in its successes. A good example of this is the school program. MAITRI has entered into agreements with four outlying (low caste) villages where there were no schools and no hope of any government assistance. The agreement ensures mutual responsibility: MAITRI provides the teacher and materials, including regular teacher training and support, while the village builds the school, maintains it and makes all children, boys and girls, attend. The feedback that I have heard has been excellent. This was a village where virtually everyone was illiterate and innumerate. That means every document signed was based on the trust that others would tell you its meaning. Now these villages are training generations of independent, educated people.

MAITRI has been set up to offer service to India. It is designed like Mahatma Ghandi’s ashram and Indians understand this. They feel comfortable there. Perhaps this is the reason MAITRI doesn’t get as much support from non-Indians. It is easy to misread things when you don’t feel totally at ease. I think MAITRI is an excellent example of compassion built on the base of renunciation. It is not built for the comfort of foreigners but to provide the most effective means at helping the beings of the Bodhgaya area. Under Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instructions there are nine stupas and a multi-religious temple is under construction. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that Adriana is doing the work of a bodhisattva. To many, she is another Mother Theresa, but with far, far less support.

Leprosy is still occurring. TB is still too common, and without the careful administration of the drugs there is the real risk of drug resistance developing. Babies and children are still dying from preventable diseases, which leads to parents wanting larger families to ensure some survive. Children are still growing up without access to education, which leads to ignorance and exploitation. Clearing of vegetation and the over use of water is increasing. How wonderful it would be if MAITRI had all the resources it needed to continue its work in supporting this community to become a success story – one that no longer needed any of us.

www.padmanet.com/maitri

Tags: adriana ferranti, bodhgaya, leprosy, maitri