Story number 3 for 1 Feb 2001

(India)–In another part of India, the earthquake isn’t hampering the work of American Leprosy Mission. In partnership with Habitat for Humanity, ALM is building homes for those who have suffered from leprosy. ALM’s Sue Renault just returned from a home building project. “We were unaware of the earthquake until we flew up to Bombay. So, the project we were working on was not affected. We were in the south and it doesn’t appear at this time that any ALM projects were affected.” According to Renault, they want to have 100 houses built by the end of this year. She says providing a home is a great way to talk about the Gospel, because the project gives these former leper patients hope. “It just begins to change the entire lifestyle of a family and then of a neighborhood. Home ownership can mean the difference between daughters being married or not. Even if a family has had leprosy if there is some property ownership some of that stigma is removed.”