12 year old Disha loves her home in the rolling green hills, full of colourful flowers in spring and hearing the birds chirp outside her bedroom window. But other people may see her home as a busy sterile place, where sick people come for treatment. A place smelling of disinfectant, different medications and full of medical equipment. Disha has lived all her life in a hospital.

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Even before Amar knew what his diagnosis was, the symptoms had already isolated him from his family and friends, leaving him homeless and living under a bridge. When an opportunity to get free treatment and free accommodation appeared, Amar didn't want it, too afraid as to what people might say or do when they saw him.

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When small patches started to appear on his face, 8 year old Kamal was told he was cursed by a snake god. 4 months of animal sacrifices and rituals didn't take the curse away. By the time Kamal arrived at the hospital, his face was covered in red patches, so swollen, he could barely open his eyes.

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Prem discovered a hidden talent when he attended bee keeping training.

Buzzing with ideas and excitement from his training, Prem ventured into the jungle to catch his first wild bee hive and he hasn't looked back since.

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Mina was studying at university when she first started losing strength in her hands. It got so bad, Mina ended up in a wheelchair, with no strength left to walk. Having to go through treatment whilst studying for university exams is hard, but it's even harder when your friends no longer speak to you after you tell them about your diagnosis.

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For the last 35 years, Pratima has been working as a community health volunteer, educating her community on good health practices, delivering vaccinations and health checks. She views her job with pride and she is well respected in her community but it was not always like this. When Pratima first started, people did not welcome her, they would shut the door in her face or hide in their homes when she came to deliver health checks.

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When we first visited Ritu at home her, she peered at us through a hole in the wall of her house, too shy to come out to meet the strangers who had turned up in her village. Ritu grew up in a community where men and women have set roles, where reputation is linked to how well each performances their roles. When disease strikes, it threatens to destroy their reputations.

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At 12 years old, Rina had never heard of leprosy when she was diagnosed with it. Diagnosis is a complicated process and the medical journey to a cure takes a long time. Rina was simply happy to take the medication without really knowing what the disease was about. Is it better to know or not know about the disease you have?

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