As a young woman Aarti Devi could not understand why she was developing scaly patches on her hands and feet. She ignored the problem and after some time her hands and feet started deforming. She had leprosy and due to lack of treatment her scaly patches had aggravated. Aarti, now 45, lives in Sundarpur leprosy colony with suffering from leprosy.

Soon after her diagnosis, she was connected to social organisations working on leprosy. She learnt a lot of things from the organisations and started taking care of herself. She hasn’t had any wound for six years now. She is completely aware of the self-care techniques and has been practicing them regularly.

She wears a special footwear made of microcellular rubber (MCR), which keep her feet protected and comfortable. Before using the MCR footwear, she used to suffer from wounds on her feet.

Aarti works in Little Flower School in Sunder Nagar and is happy that she is finally able to lead a comfortable life.

(Aarti is being supported by employees of DE Shaw in association with Lepra Society and CAF India)