Alemo... A bit more on Leprosy

As promised on Wednesday we went to the Leprosy support place called Alemo. It was such a beautiful experience. We arrived during a literacy class that is offered. The class is open to the public and it’s used to help people become more comfortable with people who had Leprosy. This place was so funny… in a good way. In the kind of way where you just want to put people in your pocket and take them home with you.

Alemo's logo. The tree trunk looks like the hands of someone suffering from
Leprosy and the branches & leaves symbolize the growth and change that
comes from healing. The dead leaves that fall to the ground even symbolize
something but I don't remember exactly.

When we first arrived we met three people, two men and one woman. In one way or another they run the place. I think the man who spoke the most had Leprosy as his hands were deformed. He was so passionate and so proud (as he should be) of his work. The woman was so cute, she told us she was happy to have woman visitors. And she asked us not only our first names but insisted on our last names too. “Nichols” popped out of my mouth and then I was like… “oh wait Macarrao” (I think that was the first time someone asked my name since marriage)… the lady thought it was sooooo funny that I didn’t know my last name… and so we all got a really good laugh.

After a quick overview of what they do, we went out to meet the students. They asked us to introduce ourselves and then one by one all 20 of them introduced themselves to us… first and last name. They sang a song for us and then asked that we do the same in return. It was a little awkward, but did our best version of Amazing Grace. I asked if I could take a picture and they said yes, as long as I showed it to the people. So that is what I did… I walked along the front of the classroom with my camera showing each person the group picture I had just taken.

On our tour we also saw the infirmary… a simple small room with a low ceiling. Not many medical supplies as far as I could see but there was one cart of gauze and stuff. We also saw that they had a corn mill. It was just one man standing in a room with 2 or 3 large machines, everything was covered in white, even the man… as if it had just snowed. They use the sales from the mill to help run the facility.

We also met two men who were soaking and cleaning their feet, a vital part in warding off infection. It’s kind of odd looking at these men, wondering just what their feet look like. Are their feet infected? Do they have legions? What does a legion even look like? But never in a million years would I ask to look at their feet, but before I know it our tour guide has asked.

The first man pulls his foot from the red wash tub. I’m not sure what I expected but it’s not this. He basically has a hole the size of a half dollar in his foot, but there is no blood. It’s just a hole. There is nothing gross about his foot, it just looks SO painful. The next man pulls his foot and he too has a hole, but his is shaped more like a 4” carrot. I suddenly understand just what the doctor was telling us yesterday… people whose nerves are damaged from leprosy wear holes in their feet because their body never sends the signal to readjust how they are walking and standing.

As we continue to walk around, I notice that everyone has on good shoes. While flips flops similar to the ones at Old Navy are what most wear, I’m seeing much sturdier sandals like Tevas and gym shoes. Even if people have on Tevas, they also have on socks.

Our tour ends in a rooms that is full of pottery. Handmade bowls and vases, they all are a burnt shade of orange with some dark silver highlights. We eventually find out that the woman makes them and they are sold to help the organization. I get a little lost in translation but eventually figure that she has said she wants to give us some of these but the I can tell that the Leprosy doctor is trying to politely say no.

We realize that the price of the pottery is written on the side of each piece. Things range from 10 mzn (36 cents) to 25 mzn (89 cents). It might sound strange to refuse a gift that costs so little but it’s so hard to accept knowing how much little bits of money help people. This is one of those times that I don’t question paying more than the asking price.

The Alemo staff, Julia, Julie and I with our new pottery.

Before we left, I asked if we could take pictures with our pottery and the lady who made them and they all said yes… but once again the condition was that we show them our pictures. The woman beamed as I showed her, it was such an awesome morning.