Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide resources that can usher health, hope and dignity to people affected by leprosy and other diseases of poverty.

Message from the Project Overseer:

The Karuna project has completed 8 years of dedicated service to Leprosy affected patients and I am grateful to God for his continual provision.

In the period from June 2007 to March 2008, there were an additional 106 patients registered at the leprosy clinics and an additional 757 patients registered at the general clinics.

The 8th anniversary celebration of the Karuna project was held on the 10th of July 2007. It was a wonderful time of celebrating God’s goodness as we looked back on our years of serving the needy. Among those present were leaders from our associated local churches, the founding workers of Karuna, and the leprosy sufferers who have been served through Karuna. I was moved as I heard one of the sufferers sing a self composed song expressing his gratefulness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We continue to operate the 5 leprosy clinics in Bandra, Borivili, Goregaon, Wadala, Trombay and the 2 general clinics in Santacruz, Milan Subway and Khadi.

Through the medical treatment and personal attention given, we’ve seen an improvement in the lives of the leprosy sufferers that we reach out to.

I am privileged to to present in this forum a brief on the events and accomplishments of the Karuna project for the period June 2007 to March 2008.

- Franco Lonappan

News, Reports, Testimonies & Developments

The anniversary celebrations were held on 10th July 2007. It was a pleasant evening; well attended by patients of the leprosy clinics, members of different local churches, and all staff and volunteers of Karuna.

We had a total of 100 people. Among those present were:
- Rosemary (MBE),
- Michael D’Costa and Pastor David Fernandes who were instrumental in starting the project.

We were also privileged to have in our midst the Rev. Dr. Jacob Serrao and Pastor Kamble from New Life Church (which is a stream of churches we have a close relationship with). The clinic in Borivili is run in collaboration with them.

Pastor David Fernandes and Rev. Jacob Serrao exhorted the people to continue this great work of helping the poor as part of the apostolic mandate to the church.

The meeting started with praise and worship, followed by thanking God for it His goodness that has enabled Karuna to help more than 5000 leprosy affected in the city, since its inception. Franco  did a review of the work done by the Karuna project during the last eight years.

A presentation on leprosy was given explaining the cause, symptoms and other facts related to the disease.

The Karuna staff testified about God’s grace and the joy experienced by them in serving the leprosy affected.

Testimonies:

1. Krishna Shinde: Our first leprosy patient from the Bandra clinic testified about God’s work in his life through Karuna and how he was healed of his eye problem.

2. Gangaram – Another leprosy patient from the same clinic passionately sang a beautiful song in Telugu speaking of the love of Jesus for lepers. Here is the English translation of the song he sang:
You are always in my heart,
Captivate me with your love, Lord.
You have made me and formed me
And I am made in the image of you,
I Love you Lord, I Love you.
Sky and earth are made by you
And you are the Lord of all.

3. Rashid Abdul, (60 years) a leprosy sufferer lives on a footpathin Bandra. He has been a Karuna patient since 2 years. Here is his testimony “Last month I had very high fever with body pain which I knew was malaria.

I was having a very difficult time and I called up Venkatesh from the Karuna staff. I was crying a lot as I had not eaten food for three days. Venkatesh came to the place I was and put me in a rickshaw and took me to the hospital.

After getting me treated there, he gave me some food to eat. After 2 hours I felt much better. The pain and fever left me and the next day I was completely alright…”

4. Kusum Pawar (55 years), a leprosy sufferer living in Dahisar, was helped by Karuna in Sept 2007: “I had an ulcer on my right leg for 2 years. I took a lot of medications from different doctors from many different places but it did not have much effect. Someone told me about Karuna, that they give treatment and help leprosy patients.

I immediately came to the clinic with the big bag of medicines that had been prescribed to me so far. The Karuna staff took me to Vimala Hospital, where I was operated on and hospitalized for a month, after which I recovered completely”.

5. Shivram Bhogoji Tambhe (45 years): A resident of Trombay; here is Shivram’s testimony -  “For 6 years I was suffering from eczema. I went to many doctors for medication but my disease didn’t get any better. When I came to know about Karuna I came immediately and took treatment for some time. After a few days the eczema went away completely”.

6. Ramanna Gowda, (55 years), who is from Wadala was tremendously blessed by the leprosy clinic. Ramann says; “Due to puss formed in my right hand, my hand was swollen and was giving me lot of pain. I went to Wadala Hospital but they recommended me to go to another hospital. They spoke to me very badly and I felt rejected. Somebody told me about Karuna and that they help in the dressing and medication of the Leprosy affected. Somehow I got in touch with the Karuna Staff and told them my problem.

They not only dressed my hand and gave me medicines but also prayed for my healing. Within 2 weeks I was healed and I give thanks to the Karuna Staff for helping me and showing me their love”.

Leprosy- on the decline:
The new registrations in the last 10 months suggest that leprosy in general has been on a decline. Last year we had an average of 22 patients per month, but now it has reduced to 11 patients per month. Hallelujah, indeed!!!

New Developments

A. Renovation of the Karuna Vehicle: The Karuna Van has undergone some major renovation. The engine has been converted from diesel to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in keeping with the pollution control norms. The van’s built-in bathroom which is used by the leprosy patients to take a wash has been redone. The trusty van has also been given a new coat of paint. [The repair and renovation work took nearly three months and during this time another vehicle was hired for holding the mobile clinics.]

B. New Prayer Groups: Besides Bandra and Goregoan the Karuna Staff have now started one more prayer group at Wadala. The leprosy sufferers are blessed tremendously through these prayer meetings as they learn about God’s ways and to trust him for their needs. Many have experienced miracles in their lives and have a firm belief in Jesus as their Saviour. Some of the testimonies are mentioned later in the report.

Leprosy Clinics

The leprosy sufferers continue to be taken care of at the five leprosy clinics. Many of them are regular patients who look forward to the mobile clinic coming to their locations on the designated weekdays.

As most of the patients live on the footpaths and by lanes, their wounds get infected especially during the monsoons. At the clinics their wounds are cleaned; a process which some times involves extracting maggots formed due to severe infection.

The staff who treat the patients also pray with them after their treatment. This along with the excellent medical attention given to the patients has resulted in their wounds being healed and the sanitary care given ensures that more wounds are prevented from developing.

Besides dressing wounds, the staff also take the patients to hospitals for specialized treatment and operations whenever required.

….. coming up…..

Karuna Workers’ testimonies

Associated Developments

Local Church Involvement

Future Plans

*This report was prepared by Franco Lonappan [Elder & Pastor, TLC, Newfrontiers]
* Pictures of the work soon to be updated.