I was born in 1983 in Jember Regency, East Java, and named Budiono by my parents. My father was a farm laborer and my mother was a housewife. The income of my parents could only meet the daily needs of my family. At the age of 12, I started going to a school close to my home. I finished the school and then went on to high school. When I was in the second academic year, a monetary crisis hit Indonesia. My parents couldn’t afford the tuition anymore and I had to leave school. While I was a teenager, I worked as a farm laborer to help my parents until I was an adult.

In 2010, I got married with a woman from a neighboring village. I was happy. My wife gave birth to our first child in 2011. When our child was two years old there was a tingling feeling in my feet and fingers. I thought it was just a normal pain, but it became worse and worse every day and the soles of my feet and fingers became numb.

One day, I went to the health center to have checkup. The leprosy officer at the health center examined the soles of my feet and my fingers. He carefully checked the numb spots and finally he concluded that I had MB leprosy. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I felt fear, anxiety, inferiority, and many other things. I received MDT and I was told to take the medicine regularly every day for 12 months so that I can recover without any residual disability.

I went back home with a confused feeling. Still, I was afraid to be honest with my family, especially my wife, as I was worried that they would leave me. After four months of treatment, I experienced a very severe reaction and my whole body was swollen. I told my wife and parents for the first time that I was taking medication for leprosy.

Immediately my wife and parents started to keep their distance from me. My parents moved to my eldest brother’s place while my wife went back to her parents’ house, which was very painful. My wife divorced me and my only child was taken away. I was depressed and my health got worse. Everyone I loved left me. I was isolated and my mother brought me my daily meals wrapped in banana leaves. They couldn’t get any closer to me for fear of infection. Because of the disease that I experienced, with no family to care for me, all I could do was shed tears and lament my fate of living alone.

One day, I came to the health center for a consultation with the leprosy officer about my family life and he advised me to go to the Sumberglagah Pacet Leprosy Hospital, Mojokerto Regency. With a little money, I went to the hospital the next day.

When I got there, I was relieved to know that I was still lucky to have no disability as I was able to receive treatment for leprosy while it was still in its early stages. At the hospital, many patients came from various cities but many of them were disabled due to delayed treatment. I finally found a group of people who could support each other and live a new life together, and I was able to recover mentally enough to have the passion to live a positive life.

I was treated at the Leprosy Hospital Sumber Glalah Mojokerto for 12 days. As my condition improved, I returned to Jember. No one from my family cared about my condition and they still stayed away. The experience while I was in the leprosy hospital in Mojokerto made me motivated to be diligent in taking medication regularly until I completed my treatment after 12 months.

Currently, I am selling bakpao cakes (steamed bun cakes) with loan funds from a self-care group. I spend my busy days going from village to village selling cakes.