Church-based leprosy rehabilitation center completes 45 years

By Thomas Scaria

Bengaluru, Oct 4, 2022: Sumanahalli, a Church-based leprosy rehabilitation center, has celebrated 45 years of its mission in Bengaluru with an interface between the beneficiaries, partners and donors.

Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, who opened the program on October 2 at the Francis Xavier’s School auditorium, commended Sumanahalli for bringing dignity to the people with leprosy, HIV and disabilities.

The archbishop, the chairman of the Sumanahalli Society, thanked “generous hearts” who partner with the Sumanahalli project to “bring love, light and life to the leprosy affected persons” over the past 45 years.

Claretian Father George Kannanthanam, the director of the Sumanahalli, welcomed the 800-strong gathering said that the society has so far treated and rehabilitated more than 11,000 patients with leprosy.

“Leprosy is not a disease of the past, it is still on rise in India,” said the priest who asserted that the services of Sumanahalli is “very crucial,” as most other leprosy centers in India have been closed because of the paucity of funds from global agencies.

India has 46 percent leprosy cases across the world, and Sumanahalli last year detected 1,264 new cases in the southern Indian state of Karnataka alone, he observed.

The Sumanahalli Society was started by the Archdiocese of Bangalore responding to the request by the then Karnataka Chief Minister Devaraj Urs in 1976 to treat and rehabilitate leprosy patients who were begging in Bangalore, the old name of the state capital. The name ‘Sumanahalli’ literally means ‘village of people of good heart.’

With the focus on empowering the cured persons to go back to the mainstream society, Sumanahalli started a school in 2004 that has educated more than 13,000 children so far. The society has also successfully placed more than 500 cured persons in employment with the government sectors and some of them earn upto 80,000 rupees a month.

Housing was another major program undertaken by the society with the government assistance. More than 300 houses were constructed for recovered patients in Bengaluru in the past years. Sumanahalli has also settled 169 cured patients in marriages

Expanding its programs for the disabled, Sumanahalli society also runs a home for HIV/AIDS patients called ‘Support’ and vocational training institute.