India is filled with women who know all about the heart-wrenching pain of poverty, loss, rejection, and discouragement. They are India’s widows.
For some women in India, leprosy is the cause of their widowhood. This disease claims the lives of many husbands, including Aruni’s. Today, Aruni suffers alone from the same dreadful disease. As the leprosy keeps eating at her limbs, she realizes that she may eventually have to suffer the humiliation of crawling on her hands and knees, begging for something to eat, as many others do.
“I thank, from the bottom of my heart, all those involved in this program and for making it possible for me to be a part of it. May God bless them more and more.”—widow in India
Most leprosy victims have no one to care for them. Or, like Sulochana, are abandoned by their husbands because of it. While the heartache of rejection alone is huge, Sulochana has also lost her leg and all her fingers, forcing her to depend on her neighbors for everything—from cooking to washing her clothes.
But God has not forgotten Sulochana, Aruni, and other Indian widows. Faithful supporters enable CAM to provide these women with a food parcel each month. These parcels are monthly reminders that someone cares about them. Echoing the hearts of many are the words of one widow, “I thank, from the bottom of my heart, all those involved in this program and for making it possible for me to be a part of it. May God bless them more and more.”
