Indonesian Ali Saga has transformed his suffering from leprosy, which he was diagnosed with 40 years ago, into a useful work for a community cause, as he handcrafts limbs for residents affected by this disease to help them return to normal life.
Indonesian Ali Saga has transformed his suffering from leprosy, which he was diagnosed with 40 years ago, into a useful work for a community cause, as he handcrafts limbs for residents affected by this disease to help them return to normal life.
Saga recalls how quickly patients and caregivers turned away when they saw him entering a clinic in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The 57-year-old said in tears, “The doctor suddenly shouted ‘Back back, he’s suffering from leprosy’!”
“Maybe I didn’t feel pain in my skin as much as my soul was wounded,” says Saga, who was diagnosed with leprosy in the 1970s.
Leprosy, which was considered a cause for shame, is a disease that affects the skin and peripheral nerves and may lead to very dangerous complications. Today, a biopsy is sufficient to diagnose it and antibiotics to treat it.
Like many previous patients, Saga lives in Tangerang Village, where Setalana Hospital is located, where a large number of patients stayed, before they decided to stay in the area after completing their treatment.
“leprosy colony”
The media dubbed this village near Jakarta the “leprosy colony” because of the residence of these patients who were considered outcasts there.
This designation had an impact on the spread of misconceptions about leprosy, as a large number of Indonesians believe that leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a divine curse that is transmitted between individuals by simple contact with the infected.
In his own way, Ali Saga combats these stereotypes that have as much physical impact as they have social repercussions.
And inside his dusty workshop, artificial limbs hang from the walls, waiting to contribute to changing the lives of those who need them, such as Kun San (70 years), who is Saga’s neighbor, who regained the ability to stand after one of his legs was amputated when he was young and lost the second in 2007. .
“I thought I would never be able to walk again,” says Kun San, who works as a tailor. “But today I am very grateful to be able to walk normally.”
Indonesia is the third country in the world, after Brazil and India, in terms of the number of people infected with leprosy, which is transmitted through prolonged contact with infected people who have not been treated.
Within the framework of World Leprosy Day, which falls on Sunday, the Indonesian Ministry of Health reported that 15,000 people are receiving medical treatment for leprosy, including more than 11,000 new cases recorded last year. About 500 former patients live in Tangerang after receiving their treatments at the hospital.
Setanala Hospital made headlines in 1989 when Princess Diana shook hands with a leprosy patient who was being treated there. Most of the former patients held simple jobs as street cleaners or rickshaw drivers. Thanks to Ali Saga, they have regained some rest and the ability to perform their tasks normally.
