The Leprosy Mission announces Wellesley Bailey Award Winners 2024

U Soe Win from Myanmar: U Soe Win is a founding member and Chairperson of the Myanmar Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy (MAPAL), an organisation which started in 2018 and now has around 600 members across 16 branches. Leprosy has caused U Soe Win impairments, huge financial losses, and led to three suicide attempts. After overcoming these challenges, U Soe Win has travelled the country and the world to raise awareness of leprosy, speaking truth to power, and offering moral support to people at their lowest points. Thanks to U Soe Win, countless people have come forward to receive leprosy treatment and have had renewed confidence to engage in their communities. Throughout the worst days of the pandemic, U Soe Win was crucial in ensuring MAPAL members received the support they needed.

Sandra Dongo Botolo from DR Congo: Sandra is a pioneer in DR Congo. Before, many people were ashamed to speak publicly about their experience of leprosy. When Sandra started to share her testimony publicly, many more became encouraged to do the same. Sandra’s journey with leprosy has seen her face years of ill-health and disability as well as facing rejection from her family. Today, Sandra has become a natural leader and as such, she is now the Coordinator of OPALCO, a new national association of persons affected by leprosy in DR Congo. Through her work, Sandra has been a vocal presence across local, national, and international meetings where she has passionately presented the perspectives of her colleagues in OPALCO and thanks to her voice, the issue of leprosy has become better and better known and better cared for in Congo.

Maya Ranavare from India: Maya Ranavare has dedicated her life to advocating for communities of persons affected by leprosy across India. Her journey started in a leprosy colony, where she was born to a mother affected by leprosy. She was diagnosed with leprosy at age 6 and was denied access to school. After overcoming a lifetime's worth of setbacks, Maya has gone on to lead a life of success. Among many successes, Maya’s work has meant that more than 3,000 persons affected by leprosy were able to access a crucial maintenance allowance. She has forged strong relationships with local and political leaders and used those relationships to leverage support for much-needed civic amenities in leprosy colonies, ensuring that basic necessities were not denied to those who needed them most. According to the people she serves, Maya stands as a symbol of hope and empowerment.

Kamal Uddin from Bangladesh: Kamal Uddin’s journey with leprosy has seen him face serious impairments to his hands, feet and eyes, as well as rejection and discrimination across employment, community, and marriage. Today he is the founding Chairman of Bangladesh’s organisation of persons affected by leprosy, the ALO Society. This is a national level organisation that supports people affected by leprosy, persons with disability and persons from disadvantaged backgrounds. They are represented across 130 districts with more than 20,000 members nationally. Under Kamal’s leadership, the ALO Society has implemented four projects aimed at improving leprosy and Covid awareness, income generation activities, and providing child and education support. Through this work, more than 800 students have received education support and 1,027 Covid-19 awareness sessions were run, engaging more than 10,000 people. Kamal’s participation in conferences, seminars, and TV talk shows has been instrumental in educating the public about leprosy.