PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: June 3, 2002
Contact: name: Anwei Law
Phone: 315-568-5838

NOTE TO MEDIA:
THE PRESS IS WELCOME TO ATTEND ALL PUBLIC EVENTS. (SEE BOX).
FOR INTERVIEWS WITH CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS, PLEASE CONTACT ANWEI LAW AT 315-568-5838 OR DORIS WOLF AT 315-539-8302 OR 315-539-0406.
SOME DELEGATES ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS ON AREA RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS. CONTACT LAW OR WOLF TO ARRANGE AN APPEARANCE.

IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity
32 Fall St., Seneca Falls, New York 315-568-5838
alaw@idealeprosydignity.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Leprosy is curable. Treatment by antibiotics, usually on an out-patient basis, can take up to two years. 8,000 men and women in the United States have had leprosy. There are two clusters of leprosy in the United States, in Hawaii and Carville, Louisiana. Only 5 percent of the population is susceptible to the disease. People who are susceptible may contract the disease only after prolonged intimate contact. The incubation period can be 18 months to 20 years. People who have leprosy, or who have been cured of leprosy, are referred to as "people affected by leprosy" or Hansen's Disease. The derogatory term "leper" should never be used.

PUBLIC EVENTS:
10 A.M., Thursday, June 13, Opening ceremonies, Wesleyan Chapel, Women's Rights National Historical Park. Participants will be wearing traditional national attire and will place flowers at the Declaration of Sentiments wall in Women's Rights National Historical Park. 12:45-2:45 p.m. special program for 46 sixth grade students from Seneca Falls Middle School at IDEA Center for Voices of Humanity, 32 Fall St., Seneca Falls. Delegates will wear traditional national attire.
9:30 a.m. Friday, June 14, talk by Warus Dirie, author and supermodel, "Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights," Episcopal Church of Sts. Peter and John, Auburn. Dirie is spokesperson for Face to Face Campaign against Female Genital Mutilation and UN Special Ambassador for Women's Rights in Africa.

9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 15, Inauguration of IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity, 32 Fall St., Seneca Falls.

11:30 a.m. Presentation of plaques to women nominated to National Women's Hall of Fame Book of Lives and Legacies, Seneca Falls.

Sunday, June 16, presentations by delegates in various church services in Seneca Falls area.

SENECA FALLS - Next week, 30 exceptional women will come from 13 countries to Seneca Falls for the first international conference on issues facing women affected by leprosy. Entitled "I Will Go With You," the conference July 10-13 is cosponsored by Women's Rights National
Historical Park, International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement (IDEA), and Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.

"Seneca Falls was chosen as the site for this conference because of its inspiring history as the site of the first Women's Rights Convention," said Anwei Law of IDEA, conference organizer. "We felt we needed to bring the issue of leprosy to an area known for human rights." One goal of the conference is to dispel some misconceptions about leprosy. Most importantly, organizers want people to know that leprosy is curable. Treatment by antibiotics, which can be administered on an
outpatient basis, can take up to two years.

But the social stigmas that are attached to the disease remain long after its victims are cured. "The issues now are not medical, they are about social acceptance, jobs, human rights," Law explained. In the United States, women who had had leprosy were denied the right to vote until 1940. Today, in countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana, Japan, Liberia, Suriname, Korea, India, China, Korea, Nigeria, the Philippines, the social challenges are greater. Children who have
leprosy are forcibly separated from their parents and forced to leave school.

"For many years, because of my sickness, I saw myself as a dead person to my family," said Beatrice Ntowah, 45, of Ghana. "I was 7 years old when the disease came in patches. I am the third of 11 children, and none of my extended family came near me."

Women are fired from their jobs, forcibly sterilized or forced to have abortions, divorced by their husbands, thrown out of their homes by their husbands and in-laws, and denied opportunities for education and employment. "I was married in 1962, but once the sickness came, my husband's family insisted that he leave me, which he did. I had three children from this marriage and he took all of them. To this day I remember the pain," said Grace Akandoh, 56, of Ghana.

Women who are cured are socially isolated from their families and communities because they are afraid to tell their husbands and children that they have had leprosy.

Despite the challenges, these women have become authors, poets, teachers, nurses, social workers, wives and mothers. During the four-day conference delegates will have opportunities to meet each other, discuss their lives and the challenges they have faced and overcome, and draw strength and inspiration from each other. They will visit historic sites such as the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, Mary Baker Eddy museum, National Women's Hall of Fame and Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls to draw inspiration and strength from them and other women.

"It is important that these women come together in supportive settings, in a comfortable place that allows them to open up, perhaps for the first time, and share their stories. From understanding will come strength and hope," said Law.

The conference also will mark the opening of the IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity at 32 Fall St., Seneca Falls at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 15. Through photographs and quotations, the center's exhibits portray how individuals who, when confronted with inhumanity, have defied social injustice by advocating for their rights, faced death by fostering hope, and promoted peace when others could not see beyond hatred and revenge. These voices of humanity are presented to challenge, inspire and guide us in defining our world and its future.

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