Leper village in Ethiopia (21 photos)

The Ethiopian Leper Village - Addis Hiwot - was founded in the 1960s by European missionaries and received support from the Ethiopian government. After the Marxist uprising in 1974, foreign workers were driven out, water and electricity were cut off, and thousands of villagers were left stranded in barren lands without adequate medical supplies to treat leprosy. More than 30 years later, living conditions here remain just as intolerable, but thanks to a few Samaritans, the situation is slowly improving. (Caution! The collection contains photos that may seem unpleasant and frightening.)

1. A woman tells a health care worker that her husband left her for another woman and refused to pay for her treatment. (Agton Strom)

2. A health worker bandages a patient’s leg affected by leprosy. (Agton Strom)

3. A man stricken with leprosy walks through the leper village of Addis Hiwot. (Agton Strom)

4. A woman cries while talking about living conditions in the village. (Agton Strom)

5. A boy runs along a dry river bed on his way home from school. (Agton Strom)

6. A woman with leprosy in her renovated home. (Agton Strom)

7. Shugut Mossa receives a roll of gauze for his ulcer. (Agton Strom)

8. Mr. Vanor visits a patient with leprosy. (Agton Strom)

9. Mr. Vanor is helping to clean an ulcer on a patient's leg. (Agton Strom)

10. Mr. Vanor visits a patient with leprosy. (Agton Strom)

11. A man before treatment for an ulcer caused by leprosy. (Agton Strom)

12. Mr. Vanor talks to patients. (Agton Strom)

13. A woman sits outside her dilapidated adobe house. (Agton Strom)

14. Mr. Balay Zereykho in his house. (Agton Strom)

15. A blind patient with leprosy wakes up. (Agton Strom)

16. Blind leper at home. (Agton Strom)

17. State Medical Center in Addis Hiwote. (Agton Strom)

18. Mr. Vanor treats the ulcers of a leper woman. (Agton Strom)

19. Mr. Vanor helps lepers. (Agton Strom)

20. Government clinic in the village of Addis Hiwot. (Agton Strom)

21. The children return to the village after collecting water. (Agton Strom)