Aneri Pattani, a freshly minted graduate of Northeastern University, is the winner of Nicholas Kristof’s annual win-a-trip contest. She previously wrote about the seven most inspiring people she met in Liberia and education victories for girls.
Fanha Konah balances a short cylindrical piece of red wood between his legs, pushing his knees together to hold it in place. He then grasps a knife between both palms, bends over and begins chipping away.
In about 10 days, he will transform the chunk of wood into a beautiful carved figurine. And he’ll do it without the use of his fingers.
Konah is the chief carver at an artisan craft shop in Ganta, Liberia – a title he has held for the past 23 years. He is also a leprosy patient, who has lost all his fingers, one foot and most of the toes on the other.
I met Konah at the Ganta Rehab Hospital, which treats leprosy, Buruli ulcer and tuberculosis patients. I remember thinking I was in for a sad day, meeting patients who, shunned by society and suffering from terrible diseases, were leading destitute lives.
While that was certainly the case for some patients, Konah’s tale was different. He is one of the oldest patients at the hospital, having been there since he was about 12. His father dropped him off and never visited again, though he did send money for treatment.
While living in a house on the hospital grounds, Konah saw other leprosy patients carving wood to produce beautiful figurines, masks and more. He was eager to learn and asked them to teach him.
As an apprentice, his first task was to use sandpaper to smooth out the carved wood. It was the second step in a four-part process: carve the wood, smooth it down with sandpaper, varnish it, let it dry.
Konah eventually graduated to other tasks and is now the chief carver, passing on the art to younger leprosy patients. Although he had a few fingers when he started carving, they were damaged and he quickly adjusted to carving without them. Today, he produces carvings so intricate that I wouldn’t believe he made them if I hadn’t seen it myself.
He oversees 10 employees at the crafts shop, which sells carved objects, handmade bracelets and hand-woven baskets, mostly to American aid workers, donors or tourists who visit the hospital.
During our visit, Konah proudly showed us a marriage chain he had recently finished. The chain, which is often a gift meant to bring good luck to couples, took one week to complete. It consists of a face at either end, representing the husband and wife, and a series of links holding them together. The number of links indicates the number of the children the couple will be blessed with, Konah explained.
Most of his carvings take one to three weeks to complete, depending on complexity. Their prices vary accordingly. A small face mask costs $5, while a more intricate carving of a hand – called the hand of authority – costs $10. An elaborate map of Liberia can cost up to $25.
Konah spends eight hours a day carving, Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, he goes to church.
Konah’s talent and hard work have helped him build a life that often seems out of reach for many leprosy patients. Traditionally pushed out of their villages and rejected by society, many lepers spend their lives in poverty and isolation.
Yet Konah’s life doesn’t follow the traditional narrative. He met a woman at the hospital, also a leprosy patient, and got married. Together, he and his wife had six children. He has seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Many of them live with him in a village near the hospital founded by former leprosy patients. He stays in a house built solely on the income from his carvings.
It’s a success story I never expected to find in a leprosy hospital.