Who are you trying to help? What issue are you trying to address?

We seek to transform the lives of leprosy victims from the inside out. Our goal is to provide aid to leprosy victims in India through funding we receive from generous donors. Leprosy is a debilitating disease that can cause muscle weakness, nerve and skin damage, and in extreme cases, limbs take the appearance of stumps due to the cartilage going back into their hands or feet, looking as if they have no fingers or toes. Victims are cast out from society and live very low quality lives. There are hundreds of thousands of victims in the world, and approximately 70% of them live in India. It is our passion to help these poor souls and to improve their lives. Some think that this is a very obscure and irrelevant cause, but we believe in ourselves to help bring relief to a very undocumented and crippling disease.

What is your project and how will it help?

Leprosy may be a foreign idea or a thing of the past to you, but for the 180,000 victims of this life-changing disease worldwide, it is their everyday reality. Once relegated to isolated leper colonies, discoveries and treatment has allowed these sufferers to come out of the shadows. New understanding and treatments have given them hope, but real progress cannot be made without you. Research continues and advancements are made through the joyous giving of those concerned. Touch the “Untouchables” was founded by a small group of high school students in Jenison, MI who share that concern and, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “[Want to] be the change we wish to see in the world.” Although raising funds is our main goal, we want to disseminate information of all kinds regarding this affliction that causes so much suffering. We thank you in advance for your generous donations, and, in addition, we ask for your prayers for those currently facing the daily battle of leprosy and for a world free forever of its effects. We know, as put by Mother Teresa, that, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

We have a contact in Visakhapatnam, India who runs a leprosy colony there. He is apart of Bible Believers Association. The funds we raise will go towards sponsoring victims in the leprosarium (leprosy colony), since they do not currently have all the funds they need to assist every victim there. It costs $50 per person per month to sponsor a victim of the disease to make sure they are given all of the necessities required to provide safer living conditions.

We may not have a major impact on the disease as a whole, but we think that by relieving the financial pressures of the leprosarium we will fund, we are doing our part in making this world a better place. Every cent we donate goes towards improving the lives of the disadvantaged halfway across the world.

How can other people partner with you on your project?

The only thing we need is financial assistance. We have only raised around $400, and we aspire to raise far more than that. All donations are accepted with much gratitude. To donate, all you have to do is visit the donation page on our website, and click on the PaySchools banner. Thank you in advance to any possible donors, your money is going to a great cause.

Please detail the resources that you need.

As I stated above, the only thing we need is financial assistance to ensure safe living conditions for the leprosy victims in Visakhapatnam, India. There is no fixed amount that we need, we are trying to raise as much as possible.