A project for and by People Affected by Leprosy (PAL)

The Grand Commandery of the Castello has actively been involved in a really exciting project brought to our attention by the Priory in Hong Kong. It concerned a Leper colony in the Sichaun Province of China named the Jing Yang Village. Work consisted of building a health clinic and providing water to all the dwellings in the village. The agreement was ‘that should we be in a position to raise all the required sum of £25,000 Sterling within a certain period of time, we would be allowed to fly the flag of St Lazarus on top of the clinic’.

So enthused by the project were we that the Council of the Grand Commandery immediately authorised a sum of £3,250 Sterling and then shortly afterwards £2,750 Sterling, making a total contribution of £6,000 Sterling. In addition, we endeavoured to raise the remaining balance from other Jurisdictions throughout the world. A limited amount of success was achieved with support from the USA, Holland and the UK, but unfortunately it was insufficient.

The Council then agreed to pay a further £2,333 Sterling to the project and there was also an anonymous donation of £805. Throughout 2007, further donations were made by the Grand Commandery of the Castello and, in 2008, we were proud to be able to hand over the balance of money required to bring the total up to the target amount of £25,000. This amount, achieved in just over 12 months and raised from a membership averaging around only 60 members we feel was a significant and praiseworthy achievement.

For a more detailed explanation of Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) and its effects click here