My 100 Daughters of India - Intermittent Fasting and Prayer Day 3

As of 2016, 2-3 million people in the world are living with leprosy. 19,000 are children. Did you know there are as many as 50 children diagnosed with leprosy every single day? Two-thirds of the world’s leprosy is diagnosed in India? 

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Leprosy is mostly spread in crowded spaces, where people have limited resources and little access to health care. The disease affects the nerve endings and the infected part of the body no longer feels pain. Fingers and toes, hands are feet are lost because people with leprosy injury themselves repeatedly, almost nudging away body parts because they cannot feel pain in that area. Deep cuts, burns and infections may go unnoticed until too much damage has been done. Eyelids, the end of the nose and other facial features are affected. 

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What if a mother gets leprosy? Her husband may leave and she will be homeless with little to no food for her children. Because of her body deformities, no one will hire her for work. She and her children are discriminated against and shunned from society, but leprosy can be cured with antibiotic treatment. Many of those affected do not know this. 

The World Health Organization provides free antibiotics to those with leprosy, but because of the stigma, many do not seek treatment as early as they should. Rising Star Outreach is breaking down so many social, cultural and religious barriers by providing food, healthcare and education to families and children living in the leprosy colonies. Rising Star integrates children from the communities with children from the leprosy colonies, creating bonds and friendships where they may not otherwise coincide. Leprosy is hard to catch and most people have a strong enough immunity to fight of the disease is they are exposed to it. You cannot contract leprosy through casual contact such as shaking hands or sitting next to someone. For $1.00 a day, you can help sponsor a child. 

Please purchase our coloring book My 100 Daughters of India and 50% of the proceeds will go to Rising Star Outreach. Available on Amazon.

Intermittent fasting fact: During a 16-hour fast, human growth hormone rises, helping to slow aging. Intermittent fasting may help you live longer because waste material is removed from the cells, a process called autophagy.