In biblical times, leprosy victims were sent away to live in their own, isolated communities and cast to the outermost limits of normal society. Today, some places still deal with leprosy victims in similar ways, leaving them with little support and viewing them as inherently "unclean." On Sept. 21, Padma Venkataraman, director of the microfinance program Rising Star Outreach said, "Leprosy-affected people are the poorest of the poor and they live in the most socially oppressed societies. Clinically they say they are cured, ... but when they have the deformities in the hands, ... nobody says they are cured, ... and to the public they are leprosy people."

Venkataraman talked about the effects of leprosy during her presentation "Small Changes the World: Micro-Finance and Leprosy" at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management's Glynn Ampitheater. The talk was a special edition of Prof. Sarita Bhalotra's class "Global Perspectives on Health," held during Bhalotra's normal class time from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The event was co-sponsored by the Psychology Department, the Heller School, Health: Science, Society Policy and and the Peace Studies Program.

Venkataraman, a former representative of the All India Women's Conference to the United Nations and the daughter of former president of India Ramaswamy Venkataraman, has been one of the premiere leaders in the struggle against leprosy. For the past 15 years, she has done a tremendous amount of grassroots work in leprosy rehabilitation.

Leprosy is a disease with a history that dates back thousands of years; it is even mentioned several times in older versions of the Bible. It is identified by skin sores, nerve damage and a general weakening of the body. The most distinctive symptoms of leprosy are lesions on the skin that are lighter than the actual skin color, numbness in parts of the body, ulcers, eyesight and hearing impairment, deformities and muscle weakness. However, the most difficult part of the disease, Venkataraman said, is the deep-rooted stigma that follows infected people.

There has long been a negative connotation associated with leprosy; in certain societies, people shun victims of the disease. To make matters worse, the living conditions of people with leprosy are typically less than favorable. Often, they are relegated to living in isolated communities called "leprosy colonies" (most commonly found in India) and subsist with a basic lack of amenities. According to the World Health Organization, there were 212,802 cases of leprosy reported globally in 2008, a startling number, albeit a 4-percent decrease in cases detected from the previous year. Leprosy is caused by infection of the bacteria mycobacterium leprae. Although the exact cause of leprosy transmission is unclear, research points to transmission occurring between people through infected respiratory droplets.

Treatment for leprosy is available in the form of antibiotics and multi-drug therapy, which, if taken early enough, kill the bacteria that cause leprosy. Ironically, many of the people in India who are inflicted with the disease fail to seek treatment because of the fear and prejudice associated with medication. A statistic from the Rising Star Outreach web site, the nonprofit organization Venkataraman works for, says "The mortality rate among lepromatous (leprosy) patients can be four times higher than the general population, although leprosy itself is rarely the direct cause of death."

Venkataraman, who has a history of leprosy activism, teamed up with President and co-founder of Rising Star Outreach, Becky Douglas, in 2003 to work for the charity. According to Rising Star Outreach's Web site, the group's mission is "to help the Leprosy colonies become thriving, self-sufficient communities."

Venkataraman's central mission is to help victims of leprosy get their lives back. One way she believes people can help victims of leprosy is through providing microcredit, something she refers to as "a whiff" of hope. Microcredit is based on microfinancing, in which small loans are given to highly impoverished people in an effort to stimulate entrepreneurship. During the talk, Venkataraman clarifired that Rising Star Outreach's micro-credit is not "money lending," but rather a "humanitarian service."

Venkataraman is adamantly against simply giving money to beggars with leprosy. Her belief is, "Nothing should be given free. Anything that is given free has no value." Still, her plan was inititally met with much hesitation. Many victims of leprosy that Venkataraman approached were skeptical about the notion that they could someday be successful. Venkataraman said people feel this way because most of the people in leprosy colonies are "untouchables" under the Indian caste system and spend their days begging.

Venkataraman dedicated herself to building a relationship with these people and slowly convincing them that they were capable of rising above the negative stigma attached to leprosy.

To do this, Venkataraman said in a DVD that was distributed at the talk, "I spent a lot of time talking to them, and, you know, you have to win their confidence and build a relationship with them. That's very important."

Among Venkataraman's accomplishments is the creation of an art school for victims of leprosy, which inspires hope and provides a form of therapy.

Prof. Malcolm Watson (PSYC) said that Venkataraman's model of microfinancing is something that should be applied to other communities, as well.

"I would love to see this approach spread even beyond work with those suffering from leprosy," said Watson.

Danielle Gurr '11, who was at the presentation, said that despite taking a lot of HSSP classes, she knew relatively little about leprosy.

"I was very interested in learning about the improvements in health in each generation of leprosy-affected people in India and hope that this trend continues, and was surprised to learn that the cause of the disease remains unknown," Gurr said.