Day 6

It's Saturday! We got to spend the day as tourists. We drove 2 hours to Pondicherry and spent the afternoon there. I was excited to receive an elephant blessing but we got there and they told us that the elephant had a fever. So that didn't happen.

We stepped off of the bus and the people swarmed us. All of the local people pulled out their cell phones to take our picture. It was a moment of feeling like celebrities.

We basically just spent 5 hours shopping. I bought some churidars, the traditional clothing that is worn here, and lots of other things that I probably don't need. But hey, It's not every day that you get to shop in India.

This is a few of us picking out our churidars

For lunch we went to a little resturant above a leather shop. I bought the Classic Beef Burger. Definitely not beef. When I ordered it I didn't even think of the fact that they don't have real beef here. Cows are holy. I'm not exactly sure what the "beef" on my hamburger really was and it's probably best that I don't know. It was the most disgusting burger that I've ever had, but it was so good at the moment just because it wasn't curry.

 As we were walking back to the buses we met a man that is a palm reader. So for 50 rupees I had my palm read. I couldn't understand everything that he was saying but I did catch a few things:

-I will have good economical success
-I will live a long life
-My lucky stone is topaz
-My friends and family will be healthy
-After I get married I will be very happy
-I will travel around the world to help people
(that was interesting because I didn't tell him why I am here)
-I will go to school and gain a good education

Sounds like a pretty good life to me!

Saturday night is movie night for the kids. Tonight we watched an older movie, I'm not sure what it was called but it was in english. One of the kids, Mariyambee, came and sat by me and told me that it was boring. So we just talked in the back. She got to talk to her parents on the phone during the movie. It was fun to see her so excited and to hear about her family and life back home.

Day 5

Today was my second day of community service. I had assumed that we would rotate through medical, community service, and education in an order, so I was a little surprised to see that I was on community service again today. But it went well.

We started by moving another pile of sand to a new yard using our pan and bag method. It was much easier than last time because we didn't have to carry the sand as far. We finished pretty quick and were taken to work on bathrooms.

There are indian style toilets throughout the colony that are eco-friendly. The people aren't able to take care of them properly so we are changing them into septic tanks.  

Our job was to fill the toilet with dirt.

This is what the toilet looks like.

A nice oval hole in the ground.

We filled the hole using our metal pans. 

We made an assembly line and took turns shoveling so it really wasn't too bad.

Once it was filled we had to carry over water to pack the dirt down.

We finished filling the first toilet and then got to do it again to another toilet!

The day was pretty laid back for me. I wasn't feeling too well so it was kind of nice to have a mindless task to complete.

It was fun to be in the colonies today becasue a lot of people were outside. There was one woman sitting outside that lived in front of the first toilet that we worked on. She came outside when we started working and waved to us every time we walked by.

I noticed that she had a plastic bag tied around the base of her leg with a string. I assume that it was to keep ulcers clean. She got around by scooting on her backside. Her yard was full of trash and water jugs that had mold in them.

It's hard to see that people are living in these conditions. I have always known that many do but it's different to see it for yourself. While I'm home living my perfect life there are people all over the world sleeping on dirt floors and drinking water that isn't sanitary. There are people that have to use dirty plastic to cover their wounds because they don't have sanitary bandages. It's hard to picture a certain face when I think of those conditions. Knowing that that certain face is a person with a life just as valuable as mine.

Day 4

I'm so sad that I don't have pictures from today, it was so fun! My group was on education, so we spent the whole morning at the school tutoring kids. We were asked not to take picutres during school, but we snapped a few between classes.

This is the book that I read over and over today. I now know more about the number twelve than I ever thought I could.

Waiting in the library for our next students.

 I loved tutoring because it gave me one-on-one time with the kids for the first time. I could focus on each individual and learn their strengths.

The day was really just a tender mercy. Last night I was talking to my mom about my experiences with the kids. I think that they are all adorable but I hadn't made the connections that I wanted to. I felt like the number of kids was overwhelming and that I would never learn any of the kids names. At playtime there are so many kids running around and so far family time has consisted of me frantically trying to divide my attention between the girls.

But today I had nothing but personal time with individual children, even outside of school. At playtime one of the girls came to me and we played together for the majority of playtime. She sat on my lap while eating her snack and I helped her across the monkey bars. Look how cute she is!

I saw a boy sititng alone away from the playground so I went over and sat by him for the last few minutes. He told me all about his family and he asked about mine.

Tonight at family time a group of the girls wanted me to read to them. I read a different version of Beauty and the Beast to them and we discussed it as we went. We finished and one of the younger girls was asleep on my lap. I put her to bed and talked with the older girls until time to leave.

Today was exactly what I needed. I needed to know someone deeper than their name, age, and standard (grade in school). And today I received just that.

Day 3

This morning my team was on community service. We drove out to one of the colonies and were put straight to work. Our first job was to move 1,000 bricks to a lady's yard so that we can build her a toilet. Doesn't sound too hard, right? Well it shouldn't be, unless you are transporting your bricks on little metal bowls.

I could only carry 3 or 4 bricks at a time, they were heavy. I have never sweat so much in my entire life. It's hot and extremely humid here, not my ideal environment to do physical labor.

But after a few hours we eventually got the bricks moved into the yard.

 

We were given a small break when a few of the local men cut off the tops of coconuts for us so that we could drink the juice. It wasn't my favorite but it was fun to try it.

Our next assignment was to move a large pile of sand so that we can later mix cement. Again, shouldn't be too difficult. But we used our little metal pans to fill bags that we carried over and dumped into the new pile.

I wish I could say that it was a wonderful experience and that I loved it. But that would be a lie. It was hard. I have never worked so hard in my life. I have never been so tired. And it was hard not to be frustarated. It was frustrating that we were using tiny pans when I knew that we could load everything into a wheelbarrow and cut our time and efforts in half. It was frustarting to have sweat dripping off my face while local men sat in the shade holding their drinks and watching us. It was hard to have someone demanding us what to do next without any positive feedback.

But I had one moment that made it all worth it. We were moving the bricks into the elderly woman's yard and she came outside with the biggest smile on her face. She brought out pictures of her with past volunteers and proudly showed them to us. Then she took us into her 2 room home and showed us the few possesions that she had. She turned around and embraced our faces in her small hands with her big granny smile.

I could feel her gratitude and her act of kindness made every frustration worth it to me.

Day 2

My team was lucky enough to be the first ones from this session to do medical. We drove out the colony Polambaakam.

The first man that I met wanted his glasses cleaned. I helped

 him take them off and we got them wiped off as best as we could.

After making our way around and greeting everyone we unloaded the medical supplies and set everything up. Each memeber of the leprosy colony has a file. Volunteers help check the patients blood pressure, pulse, and glucose and record the results on paper. Then the pateints pick up their medications.

We each got to choose our stations and got ourselves prepared. I chose to do washing.

We made an assembly line of removing bandages, washing, and oiling. Then the nurse cut the dead tissue out of the ulcers and put new bandages on.

The last thing that the patients receive is eye drops. Leprosy first affects the hands, feet and eyes. So eye care is critical. 

After we cleaned up we had a few minutes to visit with the patients. I sat by the cutest lady! She was missing all of her fingers and had ulcers on both of her feet. She was smiling the whole time that we treated her feet. There were flies attacking us so I sang a few lines of "Shoo Fly" with the actions. She doesn't speak english and probably thought I was crazy. But she just smilied and laughed with me anyway.

We took a small detour once we finished at the colony. Our bus driver asked if we wanted to see the beach. We of course said yes. We got there and two local men offered to take us on a boat ride. Again, had to say yes! So for 600 rupees we had oursleves a little adventure.

We stopped and walked around some ruins that were built by the muslim rulers in the 1800's. It was fun to see such an unexpected and different part of India.

It was interesting to be at the colony this morning. The whole reason that I came to India was to meet the people that have been affected by leprosy. I saw this video of a past team on medical and wanted so badly to have the experience for myself.

 

It's hard to explain the feeling that I had while we were driving to the colony this morning. I was excited. I have been wanting to come to India with Rising Star Outreach for almost 8 years now, and here I was. I was on my way to meet these people that I have been praying for for months. I was curious. I curious how I would feel once I actually saw the ulcers. I didn't think that they would bother me, but then again I haven't ever actually been around someone who's flesh is rotting away. I was nervous to talk to the people. Not because they have leprosy but becasue we don't have a common language. I didn't know what I would say or if it would make either of us uncomfortable for me to ramble away without being understood.

But I also felt at peace. This was something that I knew I needed to be doing, not just for them but for me.

We got to the colony and were set free to visit with the people. Not many people were outside and I didn't want to wander and over step my boundaries. I met a few people that were already outside. One was a lady who had had both leprosy and cancer. No one would treat her so her leg had to be amputated. I said hello to each person that I saw but continued on my way.

I helped get the stations set up and the next thing I knew I was holding a man's foot in my hand and washing it. It took me a moment to even realize that his foot was disfigured and that I was gently washing around a deep hole in his foot. It just felt so natural. I was washing a wound on his foot just as I would for my friends. He was just a man seeking physical assistance. Someone who was probably embarrassed to depend on someone else to do something as simple as wash his feet, just as I would be. Someone with a family, maybe a wife and kids. And someone that needs kindness in his life just as much as I do.  

The experience was everything that I thought it would be and more. I wish that I could do medical everyday, just to be with these people.

Day 1

Today we made our way to the volunteer house on campus. It was an easy day of settling into our rooms, sitting through orientation, and meeting the kids. Oh the kids. 200 little faces with big brown eyes yelling "Auntie! Auntie!".  Every day from 4-6:30 we get to join in on "play time". So fun.

I found this girl on the playground crying. It took a few mintues before she would come to me, but eventually she let me hold her. One of the older girls told me that she is new and doesn't know english. It turns out she had hit her head on the playground equipment. 

It took a little while but I eventually got a smile out of her :)

The kids love to talk and they all expect you to remember their names. It wouldn't be too hard if they weren't all tamil names. I can't even pronounce them with help, the kids just laugh at me or get frustated and walk away. Hopefully I start to get them soon!

The kids are split into families and are given a house mother. Each volunteer is assigned to a family and every night we have family time. We help with homework, play games, and help get the kids to bed. Me and 3 other girls are assigned to a family of about 20 girls.

We painted the girls nails tonight and then they painted ours.

I ended up with one purple hand and one pink hand.They loved it!

It turns out that the girl I found crying on the playground is in my family.

As you can see it was an easy day. Tomorrow we start working. Our team is split into 3 groups. The three groups rotate and spend each morning doing medical, community service, or education. My team is "Cobra". Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll run into any. We get to start with medical. Yeah!

We Made It!

After a day and a half of traveling we are finally in India! Getting here was slightly crazy at times but we didn't miss any flights and we are alive. What more can I ask for?

Our flight from Texas to London was 30 minutes late taking off due to security issues and once we landed the gate wasn't working. Eventually we were evactuated from the back of the plane and put on buses. We made it to our transfering gate with only seconds to spare. We were some of the last to board the plane, but we made it!

As soon as we landed in Chennai Jamie and I spotted 2 American boys. It was pretty easy to assume that they were here for Rising Star so we followed them. That was a good idea, because the crowds of Indian men starring and pointing as we walked out was a bit scary at 4 in the morning.

The 5 of us that arrived this morning had the brilliant idea of staying awake all day so that we'd be able to sleep really well tonight. We played spoons with sugar packets and ventured out to the streets in attempts to stay awake.

 

We spotted a cow walking down the street. They are holy here and basically do whatever they want to.

Around noon we decided to watch a movie and about 3 minutes into it we were gone. We woke up 6 hours later. So much for staying up all day!

The people here are so beautiful! I love being the minority and being surrounded by a different culture. Everyone is more than kind to us and are willing to help with anything.

The rest of our team has been arriving at the Marriot through out the day and in the morning Rising Star will pick us up and take us to their campus 2 hours away. I'm excited to finally meet the kids and put names with all the cute faces that I've been seeing in pictures.