There is an isolated leprosarium, or leper colony where seven lepers live on Mount Jiuhua, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. On Dec. 27th, Home of the Reed, a civil charity organization visited the leprosarium with young children as volunteers, bringing love and care to the elderly lepers.
The official WeChat account "Home of the Reed" reports that the seven lepers have finished the treatment, noninfectious. Some have lived there for 50 years and some for over ten years. The oldest leper is at the age of 83 and the youngest is 61. Most of them suffer physical ability and skin disfigurement caused by leprosy, lose connection with the outer world and live alone in the leprosarium on the guarantee funds provided by the government.
The elderly lepers told the volunteers that they wanted cotton-padded shoes. The volunteers took their sizes down and planned to bring the shoes to them next time. Besides, they performed programs, sang the songs with the lepers holding their hands and chatted together with the elderly.
"Reed's Home" holds that it needs efforts of the whole society to eliminate the discrimination and prejudices to lepers and the disabled. "The isolated leprosariums like Mount Jiuhua Hospital wouldn't be corners forgotten by people only the care the society has for the lepers is awakened."
Reed's Home, a private non-enterprise registered in Zhenjiang Civil Affairs Bureau, founded in August of 2014, aims at serving the disabled and elderly with the purpose "helping the unfortunate people with everything possible". As the early NPO and influential NGO in Zhenjiang, Reed's Home has carried out social service in the fields of helping the disabled and the elderly, narcotics control, community development and environmental protection. It has served about 4200 elderly people who live alone and the disabled and provided volunteer service to 9000 people.
Translated By: Luo Ting
