David Lima

David Lima is our main contact in India. A committed Christian, David plays a fantastic role, acting as a facilitator, advocate, organiser, translator, and generally brilliant as our point of contact. Our community with leprosy call him their “son”. A little about David in his own words.

 

My father was a teacher, a Hindu. He became a Christian through marriage to my mother. I am the third oldest of 4 brothers and 1 sister. When we were young, we had very little food and clothing. I had to work as a labourer from childhood. I moved to Mumbai to work in the movie industry as a set builder, my father wrote to me asking me to return home. My heart was to serve God and I trained at Bible college graduating with a Batchelors’s in Theology. I then worked with the CC Trust with orphans and people with HIV.

I first met the group with leprosy in 2004/5, at that time the colony were staying in a small room at the hospital and I happened to be visiting a friend. I asked about this group and was told not to go near them and to avoid that part of the building. I couldn’t stop thinking about them and returned later to go and see them. They were afraid of me at first as they had virtually no contact with other people. I tried to do whatever I could to help them and continued to visit them for all these years.

This year I have seen them, so excited and happy. They are now saying they do not need to go out begging anymore. Life is good. Thank you so much.