My leper friends : $b An account of personal work among lepers, and of their daily life in India — John Shaqi
My leper friends : $b An account of personal work among lepers, and of their daily life in IndiaHayes, Alice M.
History
My leper friends : $b An account of personal work among lepers, and of their daily life in India
Hayes, Alice M.
Leprosy -- Hospitals; Leprosy -- India
A Calcutta correspondent writes:--“Perhaps your readers may be
interested to hear what a woman has done for the lepers in the
Calcutta Leper Asylum. Mrs. Alice Hayes, lady correspondent of a local
weekly entitled _Hayes’ Sporting News_, edited by her husband Captain
Horace Hayes, lately commenced writing in her husband’s paper a series
of articles on Calcutta Charities, visiting each one for this purpose,
amongst them the Calcutta Leper Asylum. She found entombed there about
seventy lepers--men and women, and one or two children. Amongst the
inmates are some Eurasian and European men and women. The latter seem,
from Mrs. Hayes’ accounts, to be badly furnished with the comforts of
life. Two of the women had been students in some of our large public
schools before the disease showed itself, and were hidden away here by
parents and friends anxious to put such a visitation from the world’s
gaze. Mrs. Hayes was much touched at the sad loneliness of these poor
creatures, and describes their condition most vividly in the paper
before mentioned, inviting the help of the public to form a small fund
to provide them with small creature comforts which the asylum had
omitted to supply, such as sufficient clothes, sheets, washstands,
fruit, jam, illustrated papers, &c., and proposing personally to visit
the asylum weekly, and distribute amongst the afflicted people the
small offerings. Her appeal has been very generously responded to, and
money, clothing, etc., have been sent to her. Nobly too, does she,
week after week fulfil her self-imposed mission, going among these
poor outcasts, and cheering their loneliness with sprightly talk and
news of the outside world, and leaving each time some memento of her
kindly presence. Leprosy in our tropical climate assumes its most
loathsome aspect, and many of the inhabitants of our Leper Asylum are
in a very advanced stage of the disease. The sight, as described by
others whom curiosity or pity perhaps has tempted there, is enough to
appal any man. I hardly think a second visit is paid, however good the
intention of doing so. Mrs. Hayes, on the contrary, as I have said
before, has never failed a single Tuesday to visit her poor suffering
fellow-creatures. We read with admiration of the deeds of Florence
Nightingale, Sister Dora, Sister Gertrude, and I think we should add
to this list the name of our brave young citizen, Mrs. Alice Hayes,
whose kindness and courage are certainly unequalled in India.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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