Jeba

Jeba Khatun is 39. She was married aged 13 and has one son and one daughter. She and her husband studied to the 10th standard. Her husband is a handloom worker. Her son is in the Bangladesh Navy. Her daughter is studying agriculture. She developed the signs of leprosy aged 10 with spots on her face. Her stepmother rejected her because of her leprosy; her mother died after the birth of her younger sister. Her father took her to Nilphamari Hospital, where she took 6 months of antibiotic treatment there, but new skin lesions appeared on her body and then ulcerated. Her younger sister stayed with her in hospital. Her hands and feet worsened even after completing treatment. Her stepmother continued to reject her and disappeared with her father. She lost her younger sister when they were at a railway station and has never seen her again. A security guard took her to his home in Pabna. Her adoptive father brought her to many doctors, but none diagnosed her with leprosy health. She didn't tell him about her leprosy because she was afraid of abandonment again. Her adopted uncle knew about the LEPRA team, who visits monthly, and suggested that she should go with them to see the health workers. She was again afraid of her diagnosis being known and missed them the first month they visited. Her uncle brought her to those doctors’ team the next month. She met Mr. Polu, the LEPRA team worker who told her uncle about my leprosy, and reassured him. She took another 12 month course of antibiotics in secret. Her father, a poor man, received a marriage proposal for her and could not bear the expenses of a wedding but thought that it would be good for her to have a family. After her marriage she stayed in her fathers house so that she could keep taking medicine secretly. Her husband allowed her to study, but she became pregnant soon and could not take her exams after the 10th standard. Now she has no sensation on the fingers of her left hand but does have sensation in her palm. Her right foot is anaesthetic. Her daughter had leprosy and she brought her for treatment and now she is fine.

“Don't waste your time go for the right treatment in right time you will beat leprosy.”