Month: January 2018

Isn’t it ironic that a 3560-year-old disease (Egyptian Papyrus documents that date back to 1550 B.C.  mention about leprosy) found a cure only in 1981 (in the form of Multi-Drug Therapy)?  For about 3,530 years this infectious, enigmatic, disfiguring disease eluded a cure and made grotesque figures of human beings. No doubt, we feared leprosy.

Neha ran an entrepreneurial venture in her small town in Northern Uttar Pradesh, about 200kms away from Naini. After completing a Beauty Technician Course, Neha took a leap of faith and opened a small beauty parlour in 2012. She took a seed loan from a bank and invested a lot of energy into making her venture a success. The business of beauty suited her well. Suddenly she realised, an often ignored white patch had developed into Leprosy and the tell-tale signs were difficult to hide or ignore anymore. Soon her hands started to claw, making it difficult to even hold a pen. She was unable to continue work and was referred by the local Government hospital for surgery.

About 15 kms from Cuddalore lays the Pennadam village where the migratory community of Narikuravar have settled. This community is famous for a uniquecraft of bead making. During marriage ceremonies the special black (small) bead are worn to mark the event. Discussions with the community revealed that forming all the bead workers into a producers’ cooperative/associations/company would benefit the entire community as well as provide adequate incometo the artisans who are “differently abled”. The formation of the same was aimed to produce high quality natural wooden beads as the end product. The participants were trained on newer skills and techniques involved in bead work using different beads, colours, and designs and now the artisans are able to produce 13 varieties of necklaces and beaded jewelleries. The project has made sincere efforts to create links between the bead worker community with South India Scheduled Tribes Welfare Association and the market place.