A CHESTER mother and daughter have returned from a fundraising trip to India where they raised more than £4,000.
They were also able to witness first hand the work that charity LEPRA Health in Action carries out fighting diseases of poverty in remote and poor communities.
Jane Langdon and her daughter Anna, a junior nursing sister at the NHS Countess of Chester Hospital, spent two weeks in India following the work of LEPRA staff and volunteers as part of a bike ride group of 10 people raising money for the charity.
According to Mrs Langdon, for whom the challenge was her twelfth for LEPRA: “It is wonderful to be able to revisit some projects and also see some new ones. Seeing the work that LEPRA is doing and meeting the people who are benefiting from our fundraising makes doing a charity bike ride so much more meaningful.”
LEPRA’s India bike riders are able to meet and get to know not only beneficiaries of LEPRA’s work but also the project staff.
“Many of the guys I have now known for a number of years and a lovely friendship has developed, especially as their English has improved - which is more than can be said for my Hindi.”
Together with a LEPRA health education van the riders travelled over 500km through the states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in India.
As part of the trip they also supported the charity in awareness raising, taking part in a march in the city of Hyderabad with 450 people to raise awareness of leprosy on World Leprosy Day and drawing a lot of media attention along the route.
For Anna, visits to LEPRA clinics and meeting beneficiaries was a great opportunity to see the approach to healthcare delivery used by the charity to reach people living in remote and rural areas.
