When Prima Garti Magar stepped off the bus after 18 months in a hospital being treated for leprosy, she hoped to find solace in her family.
Instead, she was faced with silence.
Although the hospital staff assured her family that she was cured and no longer contagious, it felt like they were still being cautious.
"I thought things would change when I got better," Prima recalls.
"But fear and stigma were still present."
"It wasn't my home anymore."
Leprosy, one of the oldest diseases of humanity, is not just a physical ailment.
For many, it is a lifelong struggle with social isolation and rejection.
More than a quarter of a century has passed since Prima, who is now 42, was cured of leprosy.
Still, she can't forget her darkest moments when she first learned she had leprosy and thought she would spend the rest of her life exiled in a barn.
- A visit to a leper colony changed her life.
- A family without fingerprints
- The painful mystery of a nameless illness and one family's race against time
What is leprosy?
Leprosy, also known as leprosy and Hansen's disease, still infects about 200.000 people each year, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
It still occurs in about 120 countries around the world.
Leprosy is caused by bacteria Mycobacterium leprae, which is believed to be transmitted through droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated people, according to WHO.
When it comes to transmission, the WHO explains: "The disease is not spread through everyday contact with a person who has leprosy, such as shaking hands, hugging, eating together, or sitting next to each other."
The organization emphasizes that once a patient begins treatment, they stop transmitting leprosy.
Although treated with antibiotics, leprosy is still shrouded in myths and fears, especially in remote areas, such as rural areas in Nepal.
"There are misconceptions, such as the belief that leprosy is a curse, a consequence of sin, or a punishment from God."
"Or that this is a highly contagious and incurable disease," says Priya's doctor, Dr. Mahesh Shah, who has been treating leprosy patients in Nepal for more than 30 years.
Prima's story echoes the fates of many others in Nepal, where leprosy not only takes a toll on the body, but also means social isolation.
When 10-year-old Prima developed the first symptoms of leprosy on her skin, her family locked her in a barn for three months, fearing she would infect them.
"They said I was cursed," Prima recalls.
"I slept on the cold floor, scared and hungry.
"Even my mother didn't dare come near me."
Prima's family history is deeply marked by leprosy.
Her grandfather, who died of leprosy because he had no access to doctors, was left to die, isolated and alone, in a remote jungle.
The next family tragedy came when similar symptoms began to appear in Prima's father, Tula Garti Magar.
In a desperate search for a cure, the family turned to traditional healers in their village, but no one could provide proper help.
As her father's condition worsened, he too was locked in a barn and separated from his family and community.
In the end, he died without a proper burial, rejected by the village.
"After witnessing my father's death, I believed I was doomed to the same fate and wanted to end my life while I was in the barn."
"But then a landslide occurred and buried me alive."
"At that moment I wanted to fight for my life."
Prima is just one of many who have had a similar experience.
For Amara Timalsin, who was diagnosed with leprosy when he was 12 years old, stigma followed him everywhere.
Just a year after his diagnosis, Amir was expelled from school.
"I felt invisible for years," Amar says.
"I wasn't just fighting the disease, I was also fighting the fear that society had of me."
The fight for access to healthcare
Luckily, due to the natural disaster, Prima made it to the local health center, where she received better treatment.
However, the hospital could only provide a month's worth of medication at a time, so it often had to travel to get new supplies.
Each trip took a day of bus travel and another day of walking.
The rainy season brought additional dangers, as she was often unable to obtain medication on time due to floods and landslides.
Eventually, Prima convinced doctors at a local hospital to keep her for observation for a week.
However, she ended up staying there for 18 months because she convinced the medical staff that if she returned home, they would lock her in the barn again.
"That was the first time I felt hope," Prima says.
"Doctors treated me like a person, not a disease."
During that period, only two distant relatives visited her once, and upon returning home, she was not welcomed by her family.
The treatment was painful and caused serious side effects.
Dr Mahesh Shah explains: "The antibiotic dapsone can cause a severe allergic reaction and adequate treatment is necessary, otherwise the patient can die."
"Clofazimine (an anti-leprosy drug) can cause diarrhea and dark skin pigmentation, which can discourage patients from completing treatment, and this may be one of the factors contributing to stigma."
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Breaking the stigma
Despite being rejected, both Prima and Amar managed to find their way to treatment.
Amar made it to Anandaban Leprosy Hospital, where he was admitted more than 40 times over six years.
He suffered terrible pain during treatment.
"The biggest challenges I faced were social isolation, emotional pain, and health problems caused by an inflammatory reaction to the medications - erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).
"The side effects I had were so severe that sometimes it felt like my body was being cut into pieces," Amar recalls.
"But the isolation was even worse."
"My friends became strangers. My neighbors avoided me."
"And my family didn't know how to deal with it," Amar says.
The feeling of rejection and hopelessness became so unbearable that he attempted suicide twice.
After fully recovering, Amar got married.
But his wife left him when she learned that he had once suffered from leprosy, which further traumatized him.
"I thought there was no way out," Amar admits.
But, amidst his struggle, glimmers of hope began to emerge.
The turning point for Amar was when a Dutch doctor at Anandabana Hospital offered him a chance to study in the capital, Kathmandu.
"It was the first time someone looked beyond my illness and saw my potential," Amar remembers.
This opportunity allowed Amar to rebuild his life.
He was one of the founders of the organization IDEA Nepal which is dedicated to empowering people who have suffered from leprosy.
"Economic independence is the most important thing," Amar explains.
"That's the key to breaking the stigma."
Prima bravely chose an unconventional path to further her education, working in restaurants and on construction sites to save enough money for school.
After four years of treatment for leprosy, she enrolled in the first grade of elementary school at the age of 21.
Over the next six years, she completed high school with the support of the Nepal Leprosy Relief Association (Nepal Leprosy Relief Association - NELRA), organizations IDEA Nepal and the Leprosy Mission in Nepal (The Leprosy Mission Nepal -TLMN).
She later graduated in pharmacology and now has her own pharmacy.
"It wasn't just about making a living," says Prima.
"I wanted to prove to myself and others that I was more than this disease."
Dr Mahesh Shah tells the BBC that busting myths about leprosy and encouraging early treatment can reduce both transmission of the disease and stigma.
"The real challenge is not just the disease itself, but the social stigma that isolates these people and hinders their productivity," the doctor points out.
"Patients don't want to socialize, and they don't even tell their family and relatives about their health problems," emphasizes Dr. Mahesh Shah.
'We are not a disease'
Today, both Amar and Prima are shining examples of resilience.
Amar's children are studying abroad, a testament to the life he has managed to rebuild despite his illness.
He remains deeply committed to his mission of reintegrating into society people who have recovered from leprosy.
"There are still colonies where people with leprosy are isolated," he says.
"That has to change. Everyone deserves dignity."
"Life is not what happens to you; it's how you react to it," Amar points out.
Prima agrees.
As the owner of the pharmacy, she became a respected member of her community.
Prima continues to help leprosy sufferers.
"People need to see more in us than our past."
"We are not a disease, we are people who have dreams and potential."
Prima claims: "We are not defined by our adversities, but by the way we rise above them."
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