My Christmas SOS to help protect people from the hurt of leprosy
Help from people like you is the only way to provide Protective Shoes and ongoing care to people at risk of needless lifelong disability from leprosy.
Sadly, today there are too many people still waiting for protection a simple pair of $15 sandals can give, Protective Shoes like you see here...
Too many people — like Kumar, below — suffer because help came too late.
That's why I feel compelled to ask you to give an urgent Christmas SOS gift.
HOW SANDALS SAVE OUR SOLES
You might wonder why a pair of simple sandals is so important to protect people with leprosy.
It starts because leprosy deadens feeling in the feet.
So, if you have a cut or a burn or a puncture, you don't feel it, and so don't clean or treat it.
That can lead to infection.
Because your feet are a long way from your heart, blood pumps slower, and infection can spread faster.
The danger is infection creeps up your leg, killing the flesh. It keeps eating away, until the only thing that will stop the infection reaching your vital organs, and killing you, is...
...amputation.
This could all have been prevented with a $15 pair of Protective Shoes.
So, you can see why I'm sending this SOS.
Investing in protective care now — awareness-raising, mass screenings, early diagnosis, Protective Shoes — prevents pain and tragedy later.
Your Christmas SOS gift can help teams from The Leprosy Mission reach remote communities in the world's poorest countries — and find and diagnose people like Kumar before it's too late.
Your SOS action this Christmas can stop a lifetime of suffering before it start.
You only have to talk to someone like Kumar for a few minutes to know how important you are in their life. What you see in Kumar's smile is courage...
Kumar was only 18 when he first noticed skin patches on his leg.
10 years later the patches developed into an ulcer on his foot. That's when Kumar was diagnosed with leprosy.
Kumar told The Leprosy Mission team you support:
"Before I started developing my ulcers I had lots of friends
But when I developed the ulcers, I started isolating myself. I feared what they would think.
I felt that if i said the truth, people in the community would treat me differently."
This is the double hurt of leprosy.
The ulcers and infections that lead to deformity and disability.
Your SOS gift is needed now for people waiting for Protective Shoes and care from The Leprosy Mission.
The Leprosy Mission Australia is a member of the Australian Council for International Development and is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct. The Code requires members to meet high standards of corporate governance, public accountability, and financial management. The Leprosy Mission Australia is committed to full adherence to the ACFID Code of Conduct. More information about the ACFID Code of Conduct may be obtained by contacting The Leprosy Mission Australia or visiting the ACFID website. Complaints relating to a breach of the ACFID Code of Conduct can be made to the ACFID Code of Conduct Committee.
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