One can hardly ignore the presence of leprosy patients in any city of India. In fact, we find them all around us: in the bus stop, on the signals, in front of religious places and so on. The “Village of HOPE” as the name indicates is truly the wellspring of hope for the countless leprosy patients our society ostracized due to the social stigma and fear attached to this dreaded disease.
Home to 4000 leprosy patients and their families, the Village of HOPE has seen an astounding transformation. Established in 1993, the initial years witnessed the residents heavily dependent on begging on the streets of Delhi as their chief source of income. However, over the years, close to 90% of the residents have abandoned begging and opted to work in different parts of the city. Lending a helping and supportive hand to the residents in this transformation are the valiant and dedicated HOPE foundation workers.
The Village of HOPE is situated on the outskirts of Delhi, within the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) leprosy complex, Tahirpur. It lies adjacent to the Leprosy Mission Hospital at Nandnagri. The complex has been home to 800 families who lived in mud huts, many of which were badly damaged during the monsoons. Their homes were surrounded by stagnating water and lacked basic facilities. Many earned a living through begging, and the stigma attached to the disease caused an ache in their hearts, even as several of their extremities lost almost all sensation. HOPE worldwide, through its Indian affiliate HOPE foundation, has helped rehabilitate more than 800 leprosy families by building homes, creating job opportunities and providing vocational training. The land for constructing the homes was made available by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of NCT-Delhi and various government departments have helped provide electricity, water, and sewage and proper roads.
HOPE foundation started its work in this colony bandaging the wounds of these leprosy patients and thereby meeting their primary need. However, the unhygienic conditions prevailed in the colony especially during the monsoon only aggravated their condition. HOPE foundation was convinced that unless these patients are rehabilitated in cleaner premises, their physical as well as emotional needs could never be met. On the other hand, the government was looking for a non-government organization that was willing to rehabilitate these patients effectively.
As a first step toward this noble task, a survey was conducted to ascertain the number of homeless patients residing in the colony in 1992. Apart from the ones the government rehabilitated, there were 800 families in need of housing. Therefore, our target population was around 4000. By August 1993, the work started with the construction of 444 units of the 1st phase of the Village of HOPE. Then chief secretary of the Delhi government Mr. Takkar laid the foundation stone. Renowned Architect Laurie Baker was the consultant for this project. In June 1994, the then Delhi Chief Minister Shri. Madan Lal Khurana inaugurated the first phase of the houses.
The agreement was that HOPE foundation will build the houses and the Government will provide all the civic amenities, which included water, electricity, and sewerage system.
These houses were allotted to the patients by the then Deputy Director, DSW, Shri. R.K. Meena in April 1995. When they moved into these new houses for a year, HOPE foundation had to teach them how they can keep their premises clean. HOPE foundation had to bring in a large number of volunteers as part of the cleanliness drive in the colony. These volunteers not only cleaned the premises but also constructed all the major drains in the village. Some of them started planting trees, which helped to transform the otherwise desert-like environment.
