Vaishali has been raised in a leprosy colony. Sarva has supported her through every stage of her higher education, up to a Masters degree and then through further qualifications with the Indian Institute of Banking. She now has full-time employment with good prospects in a state bank. We are immensely proud of her incredible dedication to her studies and her determination to continue transforming both her future and that of her ostracised family.

Sonu comes from a leprosy background, his widowed mother living in the colony in which he was born. With the support and encouragement of Sarva, he completed his Hotel Management degree last summer and now has the position in a 5-star hotel of which he long dreamt.

Sonu also impresses how grateful he and his family are for the opportunity Sarva's supporters have given them to change their lives in ways that would have otherwise been impossible. As he said to us, "Even my cousin has now been able to marry outside our community (meaning leprosy colony) to a Brahmin priest who has cows!"

Prabhawati has done well in her three years of nursing training at medical school. As her school report states, his once painfully shy girl "has become smart in her appearance, confident and is ready to take on the challenges in life before her". She is now able to step out into the world and find a freedom from social stigma that she and her leprosy-affected family could not have previously imagined.

Pankas is a Nepalese boy whose hard-working, though desperately poor parents are unable to have him educated. Sarva has been able to secure him a place in one of the best schools in the district and is covering all expenses. Pankas is thriving, and is now able to aspire to vocations beyond the menial, seasonal labour on which he would have otherwise been dependant his whole life long.

Shushila is one of Sarva's first girls from a leprosy background to train as a nurse and midwife. She writes: I must say words cannot express our family feelings and thanks for you supporting me, making my career safe. It was my Dad’s dream. e is no more, but I see my Dad in you, because you are fulfilling his dream to support me. You are my godfathers, who fulfilled his and my family’s dream, to make it real..

We have supported boys with a leprosy background through full-time Hotel Management degrees. One of these, Anurag, writes: "Finally I got the job in a five star hotel in Jaipur. I am so thankful that because of you I could do my degree from one of the best universities in India."

Sunanda had the initiative to approach Sarva when she saw the positive impact of the medical training we provided to her cousin. Coming from the same leprosy background, she is completing her 3½-year medical training as a nurse and midwife, having topped her year in the final exam results. She writes, "This could not be possible without you. Thank you so much for believing in me."

Ram is a highly-intelligent Nepalese boy, whose father is a seasonal sherpa and noodlemaker, and is unable to have him educated. Sarva is ensuring that this young lad will be able to fulfil his potential. Ram recently had TB and yet still came top of the school in his end of year exams. He recently wrote to say, "I am so happy… I am thankful because you help me in a great thing."

Vikram’s Bengali parents are both affected by leprosy and live in an isolated colony. He is the first of Sarva’s male student to request training as a nurse. He is now in his second year at the only medical school in India that offers young men such opportunities.

Ashish is a highly intelligent boy who Sarva has supported throughout his schooling. Such have been his exam results that he has been accepted into an excellent local academy to study Humanities – an otherwise impossible opportunity that will undoubtedly afford him and his abandoned mother a very different future.

Sandeep comes from an ‘Untouchable’ background. An intelligent and diligent young man with very little opportunity due to his family’s social standing, Sarva encouraged and supported him through college, until he achieved first a BA, then MA degree. He has subsequently completed officer training in the Indian army and is now serving in the Communications Corps. This has opened up his world and enabled him to marry a school teacher from a higher caste, thereby raising his entire family from their lowly station.

Four generations of Ajay’s family have lived in his leprosy colony. Sarva has enabled him to undertake a challenging Hotel Management degree, develop greater confidence and self-determination, and fulfil his dream of becoming a chef in a 5-star hotel. Thanks to our supporters, the socially-ostracised background into which he was born no longer defines his future.