KIT Blog

Thanks to your shopping, Chameli can make a living for her family!

Chameli  is 31, and was born into a poor family. She’s the eldest daughter among three children.

Her father died when she was young and her mother remarried and had 8 more children.  Chameli grew up taking care of her many small sisters and brothers. They only had a little land and did not have enough to feed the whole family. As a result, she used to beg for food and money.

Dal, a health worker at a local clinic diagnosed Chameli with leprosy when she was 9.

Family members and others in her village would not have anything to do with her.  Dal helped her to collect some money to send her to Green Pasture Hospital in Pokhara, for the treatment. She stayed there and took medicine for 2 years to cure her from leprosy.

There she fell in love with Basu who was also a leprosy patient. He used to work in the paper section of New SADLE located in Pokhara. They got married and moved to New SADLE, Kathmandu when the paper section moved to Kathmandu.

Now, Basu runs the paper workshop by himself. Chameli works as a batik painter and now they earn a good income.

They have two sons, Simon 15 and Ananta 8. They both go to Lovely Angel English High School run by New SADLE.

Chameli  is happy and thanks New SADLE for her better life.

New SADLE is a not-for-profit organisation that helps rehabilitate people affected by leprosy.

The Leprosy Mission Australia is now stocking items supplied by New SADLE (including the below) in the gift catalogue and online store.