Author’s note: I want to send a heartfelt thanks to all the hundreds of Meridian readers who helped make this story possible. You raised over $400K to build this school. You also contributed enough money to bring dozens of children into the school this year.
Without a school, there would have been nowhere to put Lakshmi! Without the provided tuition, we would not have been able to accept her into our program. She would have been back in the street with no one to care for her leprosy ulcers. God bless you for your generosity that enables us to save and bless lives!
Lakshmi (not her real name*) was a bright-eyed 10-year-old girl, full of life and dreams, when her world was turned upside down. She noticed unusual white patches on her skin, and as the days passed, they grew larger and more painful. At first, she tried to ignore them, then hide them. Her parents finally took her to the doctor, and the diagnosis shook their small village: Lakshmi had leprosy.
Fear and superstition took hold, and soon Lakshmi’s own family disowned her, abandoning her on the outskirts of the village. A ten-year-old tiny girl! She frantically begged them to keep her. She was terrified. She was all alone. Where would she sleep? Where would she stay? She had no way to gain food; no one to protect her from the dangers of the street, where evil men prey on unprotected children. But the parents would not budge. If they kept her, the entire family would become Untouchables. They turned away and forbade her to follow.
Fearfully, she wandered the streets, shunned by everyone she met. She lived in constant fear and with constant hunger. One day, a kind social worker spotted Lakshmi rummaging through trash for food. She gently coaxed Lakshmi into her car and drove her to the Leprosy Hospital at Little Flower.
Last month, the doctor at the hospital declared Lakshmi safe and cured of the disease, though she had lost one of her toes. Repeated calls to her family went unanswered. The hospital continued to reach out to her family. Finally, her mother came and told the Leprosy Hospital that they were not going to take their child back. The rejection was heartbreaking.
Lakshmi’s future looked bleak. She couldn’t stay at the leprosy hospital. But where could she go? She desperately begged them not to put her back on the street. Her joy in living had completely evaporated, and she sank into depression. The spark in her eyes had gone out. At the tender age of ten, she felt unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and had no hope in sight.
As Lakshmi felt herself sinking into despair, volunteers from Rising Star Outreach visited the hospital. Initially, she tried to shrink and make herself smaller so they wouldn’t notice her. She was so used to being brutally shunned. But they came to her cot and coaxed her into telling them her story. With tears streaming down her face, she told them of the fear, hunger, and rejection she lived with daily. She felt she was cursed by God and had no right to life. Instead of screaming at her to keep away, the volunteers sat on the bed next to her and embraced her. Together, they agreed to be her sponsors to attend the Rising Star Outreach school.
Continuing her story . . .
At Rising Star, Lakshmi found a new family. She was given a bottom bunk to accommodate her left leg and foot, which made accessing the top bunk difficult. She has a loving housemother who adores her. The staff and volunteers embraced her with love and compassion, providing medical treatment, nutritious food, and education.
They taught her to manage her condition and regain her confidence. She quickly became a beloved member of the community. Her friends help her get to the cafeteria, bring her meals, and accompany her to class, creating an environment filled with kindness and support.
Every day, the open wound in her foot was treated. It had started out as a large ulcer but had nearly disappeared by the time the students left for summer vacation.
Lakshmi begged us to contact her mother again to see if she would accept Lakshmi for the summer vacation. We tried to give her mother encouragement and to help her understand that her daughter was no longer contagious. With hesitation, the mother finally agreed that Lakshi could return home for the one-month summer vacation. Lakshmi was ecstatic!
When her mother came to pick Lakshmi up, our nurse spent time with the mother explaining how to clean Lakshmi’s foot each day until the ulcer was completely healed. It should only take a couple more weeks if the care was given daily. We provided Lakshmi’s mom with all the necessary gauze, antibiotics, and other materials. She promised to continue Lakshmi’s treatment.
When Lakshmi returned at the end of the month-long vacation, we were shocked to learn that the wound had never even once been treated! Before our doctor had even unwrapped her dirty bandage, he was greeted by a foul smell. He was shocked to see that the wound, instead of healing, had increased and consumed a good part of her foot. It looked dangerously infected. Our leader in Bihar, Suku, took her immediately to the leprosy hospital, where the doctor sadly informed him that there was so much sepsis that Lakshmi’s entire leg would have to be amputated. Suku shook his head and staggered backwards with this diagnosis. He could only think of how debilitating this would be for little Lakshmi. Her life had already been so difficult. How could she survive this new tragedy?
Suku relayed this disturbing news to our country leader, who subsequently called me to bring me up to date. “No! No! No!” I fairly screamed into the phone. “Don’t let them take her leg off!” I begged Suku to get her to New Delhi, where hospitals were much more sophisticated. Perhaps they could save her leg. Our doctor, Dr. Rahul, was uncertain she could survive a trip to New Delhi. Besides, he insisted we were doing everything possible for her.
Our American Director, Brett Caywood, and our Indian Director, Prakash Bodhu, had attended an international leprosy conference in Indonesia, where they had met several researchers who were making fantastic progress in the treatment of leprosy ulcers. They jumped in to help.
Prakash and Brett said, “We asked ourselves if we would try any harder if it were our daughter because we knew we should try just as hard to help the Rising Star students as our own children.” Prakash took it from there with multiple calls and follow-ups. He contacted a doctor who worked at a hospital
in Indonesia who had pioneered new methods of treating leprosy ulcers. This doctor, after seeing pictures of Lakshmi’s foot, was willing to try to treat it.
This was now an all-Rising Star effort. Suku quickly worked to get a visa application filled out for Lakshmi. He urged the visa office to process it quickly, as Lakshmi’s very life was at stake. The visa office ultimately rejected the application because, without a father to sign for her, she wouldn’t be allowed out of the country. No amount of explaining the seriousness of the situation would get them to change their minds.
Suku and Prakash worked feverishly trying to find someone—anyone—in India who could treat her. Our doctors at Rising Star also searched diligently. As they were about to give up, someone mentioned the Nirmala Leprosy Hospital, a leprosy hospital in New Delhi run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. They quickly fired off pictures of the infected leg to the hospital. After receiving the pictures of her foot, the Missionaries of Charity said they were willing to try.
By this point, time was running out. Every hour mattered, as the infection was rising in her leg. Getting Lakshmi to New Delhi was no small task. It is an agonizingly long drive from our campus to the nearest airport, where she could catch a plane to New Delhi. In her critical condition, could she survive such a journey? With many prayers, the journey was made, and Lakshmi made it to her appointment with the Missionaries of Charity.
Suku reported to me that as they arrived at the hospital, they were dismayed to see the many patients who had amputations in the ward Lakshmi was assigned to. He said that he and all with him prayed fervently that Mother Teresa’s missionaries would be able to save Lakshmi without removing her leg.
As she was being evaluated, Suku sent messages to all of us, carefully following this saga in the States. We called and asked supporters to join in petitioning God to save her. After carefully examining the now dangerously infected leg, and after much deliberation, the Missionaries of Charity concluded that there was a chance, however slim, that the leg could be saved.
Laskhmi’s treatment would take a minimum of six weeks, during which time she would need to stay at the Mother Teresa Nirmala hospital. Not wanting to abandon her at such a critical time, Suku stayed as long as he possibly could, but finally, tearfully had to leave her in the loving care of the Missionaries of Charity as he returned to oversee our campus in Bihar.
We all asked friends to join us in praying for Lakshmi. Her name was added to prayer roll lists in temples across the United States. Several joined together in a desperate fast.
Lakshmi has now been released from the Nirmala hospital—with two good legs! She’s on her way back to Rising Star Outreach, where all her friends are waiting to welcome the miracle girl!
Sometimes in life, it is easy for us to feel that God has forgotten us. But I am convinced He forgets no one. He even remembers a little child, stigmatized and suffering, in the remotest corner of India.
CynthiaNovember 17, 2025
I love your stories about Rising Star Outreach! Thank you for being such an example in being an instrument in the Lord's hands.
LewisOctober 20, 2025
A moving story, and a gentle reminder that God loves all His children, wherever they may be. Also a reminder of how God will use us to bless the lives of His children, wherever they may be. I am grateful for the good you and the others at Rising Star are doing and for the gift you have of telling these wonderful stories.