Angelika Piefer - TLM Hero

Angelika Piefer hails from Germany. She is an Occupational Therapist who worked with TLM from 1989 to 2014 (25 years). After undergoing training in Ethiopia, she started her work with the Mission in Turkey and from there moved to China. Other countries where Angelika has worked include, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and Cambodia, then via Singapore to Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands (for a short time). She also spent a short time in Indonesia, before then moving to DR Congo and Niger, with short times in Zimbabwe and Chad.

Angelika provided technical assistance to government programmes and other partners in the area of Prevention of Disability and Community Based Rehabilitation. She also supported approaches to leprosy control. She designed and ran training programmes for government health staff and evaluated field projects. One of the world's most renowned technical experts in leprosy, Angelika has trained doctors and physiotherapist in management of pre-and-post reconstructive surgeries for people affected by leprosy across the world, leaving an incredible legacy. She retired from TLM in 2014.

Here's is how Bunmi Oluloto, one of Angelika's former colleagues spoke about her, "Angelika is a very Godly, efficient, dedicated and hardworking woman and a great team player with her good character and commitment. She had good relationships with staff, patients, and their relatives in the hospital and the field. For me, she is one of the great heroes of The Leprosy Mission."