Support for Lychok Village

Hansen’s disease (leprosy) has long been feared as a terrifying and stigmatized illness, once referred to as a “divine punishment.” Lee Tae Seok went to Tonj, South Sudan precisely to care for those suffering from Hansen’s disease.

In Lychok Village, where Tonj’s Hansen’s disease patients still live, all external aid disappeared after Lee Tae Seok's passing in 2010, leaving the community to suffer from severe shortages of food and medicine.

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Since 2020, the Lee Tae Seok Foundation has been regularly providing essential aid to Lychok Village, including food, daily necessities, beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, and more.

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The Foundation also took over a local elementary school in Lychok that had been forced to close due to a lack of government funding. The Lee Tae Seok Foundation reopened the school under a new name: Lee Tae Seok Elementary School.

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Located right next to the village for Hansen’s disease patients, the school received an overwhelming response—with many coming from surrounding villages upon hearing news of its reopening. Today, there are over 400 students attending Lee Tae Seok Elementary School.

When the Foundation visited the school in August of 2023, over 500 residents, including the Governor of Warap State, came to express their heartfelt gratitude. The Foundation is committed to continuing the love that Lee Tae Seok once extended to the Hansen’s disease community—with compassion and care.