Beliefs and positioning

# Beliefs Library ... TEMPLATE

> **Purpose:**
> This file captures the client's beliefs by topic and preserves their exact language for reuse.
> All content must align with these beliefs. If a topic is not covered, ask the client rather than inferring.

**Client name:** Hope Rises International
**KB version:** 2026-03-23
**Last updated:** 2026-03-23

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How to use this file

Each topic has a unique ID (example: BEL-001).
Beliefs are paraphrased, clear statements.
Direct quotes preserve the client's voice and phrasing.
Do not merge topics or rewrite beliefs to sound smarter.
If a topic is not covered clearly, mark it as not covered rather than guessing.

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Belief index

| Belief ID | Topic |
| --- | --- |
| BEL-001 | Leprosy is still here and still curable |
| BEL-002 | Early signs of leprosy and why early diagnosis matters |
| BEL-003 | How leprosy spreads and why most people are naturally immune |
| BEL-004 | Why "leper" is harmful language and what to say instead |
| BEL-005 | Ending leprosy stigma requires more than medicine |
| BEL-006 | Leprosy in children and why prevention is urgent |
| BEL-007 | What are neglected tropical diseases and why they are "neglected" |
| BEL-008 | Buruli ulcer basics and why early treatment prevents lifelong scarring |
| BEL-009 | Lymphatic filariasis and practical lymphedema self-care |
| BEL-010 | Yaws explained and why it's still a problem |
| BEL-011 | Treatment for leprosy and what MDT really involves |
| BEL-012 | Leprosy reactions and disability prevention after "cure" |
| BEL-013 | Protective footwear for leprosy and why mobility is dignity |
| BEL-014 | Wound care and home self-care kits for skin NTDs |
| BEL-015 | Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene as NTD prevention |
| BEL-016 | Medical supply donations and the truth about "shipping supplies to Africa" |
| BEL-017 | "33x impact" claims and how to talk about leverage credibly |
| BEL-018 | Leprosy vaccine progress and what LepVax actually means |
| BEL-019 | Diagnostics for skin NTDs and why lab capacity changes everything |
| BEL-020 | Drug-resistant leprosy and why resistance monitoring matters |
| BEL-021 | Integrated "skin NTD" strategy versus disease-by-disease programs |
| BEL-022 | Why the Church is positioned as a frontline health partner |
| BEL-023 | How to choose a trustworthy global health charity |

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BEL-001: Leprosy is still here and still curable

Beliefs About This Topic Short, clear statements derived from the client's answers.

**Belief 1:** Leprosy is still present in the world, and the team wants that reality understood without sensationalism.
**Belief 2:** Leprosy is curable, and early treatment can prevent disability.
**Belief 3:** The bigger barriers are delayed diagnosis, misinformation, stigma, and access to care, not a lack of known treatment.

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Direct Quotes From Client Use when tone, phrasing, or emphasis matters.

"There is still leprosy, neglected tropical diseases in the world and we are working with, and through the church to help them have physical healing and spiritual hope."
"It's curable. It's antibiotics."
"If you catch leprosy early enough, it's curable. It's treatable. And it does not result in disability."

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BEL-002: Early signs of leprosy and why early diagnosis matters

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Early diagnosis matters because it is the key factor in preventing lifelong disability.
**Belief 2:** Hope Rises believes trusted local referral pathways matter as much as symptom awareness, because people need to know where to go next.
**Belief 3:** Pastors, church members, and community health workers can play a useful role in spotting suspect cases and helping people reach qualified care.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Why early diagnosis is so important is because it's the key factor in preventing lifelong disability."
"If they see a suspect case, then they're trained on how to refer that to a health facility."
"That training of what is this relationship ... where does your responsibility stop at, what point do you refer."

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BEL-003: How leprosy spreads and why most people are naturally immune

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Leprosy is not highly contagious and does not spread through casual contact.
**Belief 2:** Transmission typically requires prolonged close contact with an untreated case.
**Belief 3:** Once treatment starts, active transmission stops, and most people have natural immunity anyway.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"It's not highly contagious. It doesn't spread through casual contact."
"It requires prolonged close contact and with an untreated case, that's key too."
"Ninety, ninety-five percent of people have natural immunity and would never develop it."

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BEL-004: Why "leper" is harmful language and what to say instead

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises rejects the term leper and wants person-first language used consistently.
**Belief 2:** Language is part of stigma, so careless wording can work against healing and dignity.
**Belief 3:** The team wants language that reflects partnership and respect, not pity or superiority.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Do not say lepers ever."
"We don't say serving the poor, we're not."
"We don't want to ever sound like, we are trying to be saviors."

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BEL-005: Ending leprosy stigma requires more than medicine

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Stigma operates at personal, family, community, and institutional levels, not just inside one person's mind.
**Belief 2:** Medicine matters, but education, accompaniment, and community reintegration matter too.
**Belief 3:** Hope Rises sees the church as uniquely helpful in stigma reduction when it is connected to real medical care.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Stigma is very complex and so it's happening in every level."
"A lot of it's just community awareness to reduce the community-wide stigma that just persists."
"There's still a lot of institutional stigma."

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BEL-006: Leprosy in children and why prevention is urgent

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Child leprosy cases are treated as a warning sign that active transmission is still happening nearby.
**Belief 2:** Hope Rises sees early diagnosis in children as a disability-prevention priority.
**Belief 3:** The team wants childhood cases understood carefully, as a transmission indicator rather than as a separate fear tactic.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"A childhood case ... indicates that there's ongoing transmission."
"For a child to acquire it, an adult in their family or very close community has had it recently enough and is still transmitting the disease."
"We use childhood cases as kind of an indicator that transmission is ongoing and it's not being interrupted."

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BEL-007: What are neglected tropical diseases and why they are "neglected"

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises works in a selected set of NTDs, not every NTD category.
**Belief 2:** These diseases are neglected not only in public attention, but also in research and investment.
**Belief 3:** The team believes neglect shows up in how slowly tools, funding, and public understanding develop around these diseases.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"There are a number of NTDs we don't work with at all and wouldn't."
"The diseases themselves are neglected, that's where they get their name."
"They've also historically and continue to be very much neglected in terms of global research and investment."

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BEL-008: Buruli ulcer basics and why early treatment prevents lifelong scarring

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Buruli ulcer is one of Hope Rises' core disease areas, and early treatment matters because delay can turn a manageable case into a severe wound.
**Belief 2:** The team sees Buruli ulcer as a disease where visible progression can make delayed care much worse.
**Belief 3:** Buruli ulcer in children is an especially important concern.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Buruli ulcer actually happens more commonly in children by a factor."
"A child where the Buruli ulcer has become an open wound now, instead of just a nodule, that we could have prevented from having to now do skin grafts."
"It's got to be a big enough problem."

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BEL-009: Lymphatic filariasis and practical lymphedema self-care

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Lymphatic filariasis is different from the bacterial diseases because it is parasitic and mosquito-borne.
**Belief 2:** Once severe lymphatic damage or swelling has set in, treatment may stop the cause but cannot fully reverse the damage.
**Belief 3:** LF care includes practical long-term management, including washing, cleaning, and broader community-level prevention efforts.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Lymphatic filariasis, this is the only one that's parasitic, it's mosquito-born."
"Once you have damaged to your lymphatic system ... that cannot be reversed."
"There's annual campaigns in an area where there's known transmission ... they go through and treat the entire community with a preventative drug."

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BEL-010: Yaws explained and why it's still a problem

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Yaws is part of Hope Rises' stated disease set, but it was only lightly covered in the transcript.
**Belief 2:** The team does not treat yaws as equally prominent in donor education compared with leprosy, Buruli ulcer, or LF.
**Belief 3:** [Not clearly covered in the transcript beyond relative priority and disease list placement.]

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Yaws ... we talk less about yaws, it's much less frequent."
[No direct quote captured for this topic in the transcript.]

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BEL-011: Treatment for leprosy and what MDT really involves

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Leprosy treatment is real and established, but completing treatment depends on more than medicine alone.
**Belief 2:** Free medication does not mean care is easy to access, because travel, time, missed wages, and follow-up barriers still matter.
**Belief 3:** Accompaniment and local support help people stay in treatment long enough to finish it.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"It's curable. It's antibiotics."
"The medicine is typically free globally. You have to get there and other appointment things may not."
"They normally then have ... maybe a year ahead of them of treatment."

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BEL-012: Leprosy reactions and disability prevention after "cure"

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises believes cure and disability prevention are related but not identical, because treatment can clear the bacteria without reversing existing damage.
**Belief 2:** Ongoing self-care, protection, and follow-up still matter after the disease itself is no longer active.
**Belief 3:** [Leprosy reactions were not clearly covered in the transcript.]

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Direct Quotes From Client

"The antibiotics killed the bacteria ... but it doesn't reverse whatever damage is already happened."
"They're just dealing with the lifelong effects of it, but they no longer have leprosy."
[No direct quote captured for leprosy reactions specifically in the transcript.]

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BEL-013: Protective footwear for leprosy and why mobility is dignity

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Protective footwear is not a cosmetic extra, it is part of practical disability prevention.
**Belief 2:** Footwear works best when paired with teaching, follow-up, and self-care support.
**Belief 3:** Low-cost mobility protection can prevent much more serious downstream harm.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"A pair of protective footwear is helpful, but not if the person wearing them doesn't know how to check for injury or how to manage their sensation loss."
"There's a pretty high ROI or cost-effectiveness there."
"The opportunity cost or the risk is also huge."

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BEL-014: Wound care and home self-care kits for skin NTDs

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Self-care kits and wound care supplies matter, but they are most valuable when someone is taught how to use them.
**Belief 2:** Hope Rises sees these tools as high-impact, practical support rather than standalone solutions.
**Belief 3:** The team believes home-based self-care can prevent much more serious complications.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"A self-care kit is not that valuable if you don't teach someone how to use it."
"A pastor knowing how to encourage someone on how to use a self-care kit ... that's where the further impact of an already very cost-effective device then multiplies."
"If you don't do self-care at home and it results in major infection, disability, amputation, lost livelihood, that risk is so significant."

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BEL-015: Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene as NTD prevention

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** [This topic was not clearly covered in the transcript.]
**Belief 2:** [The transcript did not provide a developed point of view on WASH beyond its appearance in broader program language.]
**Belief 3:** [Needs clarification.]

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Direct Quotes From Client

[No direct quote captured for this topic in the transcript.]

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BEL-016: Medical supply donations and the truth about "shipping supplies to Africa"

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises does not want random ad-hoc public goods shipped to it, because that usually does not serve real field needs.
**Belief 2:** Its shipment model is partner-led and coordinated through a third party that stewards donated supplies and medications.
**Belief 3:** Shipments are valuable because they meet real hospital needs, but the team is careful not to overstate personalized downstream metrics.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"We don't have a mechanism for us to receive like, in-kind programmatic donations."
"Sometimes people still randomly send us things even though we wish they wouldn't."
"We have a third party company ... that's their entire mission is to take donated supplies and medications from companies and steward them."

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BEL-017: "33x impact" claims and how to talk about leverage credibly

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** The 33x idea is meant to describe shipping leverage, not a vague inspirational claim.
**Belief 2:** The team still uses this language, especially around medical shipment appeals.
**Belief 3:** At the same time, the transcript suggests the number is historical and should be handled carefully and only with approved logic.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"If you give a dollar you're really giving 33 dollars."
"For everyone dollar, you're sending thirty three dollars worth of medical supplies."
"It was created ... that was the average amount of shipping in versus how much was being received."

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BEL-018: Leprosy vaccine progress and what LepVax actually means

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises sees vaccine work as important because NTDs do not get the same urgency or investment as more visible diseases.
**Belief 2:** The team does not want research content to overpromise future deliverables.
**Belief 3:** The organization is moving toward more of a funder-and-supporter role in research rather than always being the primary lead.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"There's not that political will or investment to ... the leprosy vaccine."
"We're more than 25 years in to developing a leprosy vaccine."
"We're moving more to, I think be more of a funder and a supporter in that role and not the primary."

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BEL-019: Diagnostics for skin NTDs and why lab capacity changes everything

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises believes accurate diagnosis matters because late or missed diagnosis worsens disability and stigma.
**Belief 2:** Diagnostics are part of addressing the neglected nature of these diseases.
**Belief 3:** The team wants this area described carefully, without creating promises that future program structure may not support.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"Timely detection, accurate diagnosis, quality treatment and holistic care."
"If you can now diagnose the disease in a way that you have not ever been able to in the past, the impact long term is massive."
"I wouldn't get too in the weeds on like specific projects or types of research."

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BEL-020: Drug-resistant leprosy and why resistance monitoring matters

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** [This topic was not clearly covered in the transcript.]
**Belief 2:** [The transcript discussed research carefully in general, but not drug resistance specifically.]
**Belief 3:** [Needs clarification.]

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Direct Quotes From Client

[No direct quote captured for this topic in the transcript.]

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BEL-021: Integrated "skin NTD" strategy versus disease-by-disease programs

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises sees itself as blended, not just a leprosy organization and not a generic all-NTDs organization either.
**Belief 2:** The team values integrated detection because many early skin presentations are visually similar and still deserve referral even when they are not one of Hope Rises' core diseases.
**Belief 3:** They also acknowledge a practical hierarchy in public emphasis, with leprosy, Buruli ulcer, and LF discussed more than some other diseases.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"I think it's blended."
"Most of them manifest initially by a rash, of some kind. So, it could be anything."
"With donors, we talk a lot about leprosy and Buruli ulcer ... recently, we've talked more about LF."

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BEL-022: Why the Church is positioned as a frontline health partner

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises believes the local church has trust and proximity that help people come forward earlier and stay connected to care.
**Belief 2:** The church is not meant to replace medical care, but to work alongside qualified health partners.
**Belief 3:** This church-centered model is both a theological commitment and a practical operating belief.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"They trust their pastors, they trust their church people."
"If you have just the health facility without the church you miss all the things we see so valuable about the church engagement piece."
"If you just have the church and they don't have the connection to care, you run the risk."

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BEL-023: How to choose a trustworthy global health charity

Beliefs About This Topic

**Belief 1:** Hope Rises believes trust grows when people can quickly understand who the organization is, what it does, and why its model is credible.
**Belief 2:** The team wants donors to know that real impact is need-based, not donor-controlled theater.
**Belief 3:** They are willing to be honest that some outcomes, especially shipment-specific downstream metrics, are harder to track than donors may expect.

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Direct Quotes From Client

"We want them to quickly and clearly see who we are, what we do and that they can trust us."
"We do what people need. All right, that's our goal."
"We don't have a lot of like, follow-up, big stories and metrics on like the shipment. That, that is the impact, is that it makes it to the facility and is there."

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