Too Many Emotions to Count

It was an emotion packed day for me in many ways.  Our Scorpion group was assigned to medical today.  I have been looking forward to this but unsure of how I would react to seeing open wounds from the results of leprosy and whether I would be able to do all that was expected. To my relief, it turned out to be a success with only one low that happened today.  I will share that at the end of this post. 

  Everyday when medical goes out it is different.  Today we were fortunate enough to get to go to one of the boarding schools that care for the special needs children.  Some of these children were as old as forty and as young as five.  We went there to do physicals.  After I recorded their name and age we charted their height, weight and the doctor did a check up on each student.

  Special needs children are treated in many of the same ways as leprosy affected people as many are sent away and not wanted in their families.  It is unfortunate because I have always felt as I have worked with these children in school back at home as being some of the most innocent and special spirits sent from God.  We can learn so much from them.  Their unconditional love brings out the compassion in one's heart.  I feel they are sent here on earth not only to live a full life but to teach others how to have a zest for living, to love and to serve. 

This part of our day was a highlight. We sang with them, played with them and took pictures.  They love being filmed or photographed and seeing themselves afterward. What they enjoyed most though was being held or given the attention they crave so much.  I was impressed at how well cared for they looked.  The people in this school make sure they are clean, presentable and loved.  Our group was so good with these children.

We had one older special needs lady there named, Narobi.  She did not want anything to do with getting her physical done.  The teachers tried and couldn't get her to budge.  When Ray tried to get her  to come she yelled at him.  I decided to take it into my own hands.  I knelt down and looked into her eyes and spoke to her holding her hand and she responded to me.  I walked her through the check up, modeling what to do and encouraging her.  She completed it and I felt so proud of being able to reach her and work with her.  My team mates praised me and one of their teachers told me, in her quick way "Good".  

Our next destination was at a small leprosy colony to take care of six patients.  We had to test their blood sugar if they were diabetic, take their blood pressure (my job) and chart it.  After that we had to take care of the wounds on their feet.  We had to cut away and unwrap the foot and clip toenails.This is a hard job as the nails are imbedded and distorted. Savannah did a good job with this. Then the foot is washed and soaked. Stacy was very gentle. Then oil is applied to the foot. Quincy gave a good massage. Then the nurse trimmed the dead tissue off and Ray wrapped the leprosy affected feet. He was the expert wrapper.  Some of these cases were in the worst shape.  Kylie also take a picture of each foot to document the progression.  I did not take pictures as the environment felt too intimate and unfamiliar. I may get some later to show the set up of how it is done. The set up was pretty primitive. It was in the back of a small hut where one of the patients lives in. We set up a row of chairs on packed down dirt for the patients to sit on. In front of those chairs we had bowls and a stool for us to sit on.  The patients would rotate through the different chairs to get the different things done.  Everything brought in is sanitary but the location was not clean.  

Some of this can be very painful for them and some of it soothing.  The washing and oiling is very intimate and very soothing.  These are people that are shunned and untouchable in society.  They thrive on being touched and visited with.  A smile goes along way.  One man was joking with me a little.  I told him that Quincy was my daughter as she was oiling his feet. He made my day by saying that he thought she was my sister.  That day I found my new best friend.  The gratitude from these patients is so abundant.  Watching them take off their tiny, very worn, specially designed shoes and leg braces and seeing what they deal with daily moved me.  Even though they have open wounds, distorted limbs, difficulty seeing and hearing they manage to smile.  They live in dire circumstances yet will offer to you whatever they have.  It seems like those with so little are the most generous. This experience is creating change within myself.

The low for today was before we entered the special needs school.  As Quincy and I were walking in a short, very thin lady approached us and was clearly upset.  She was trying so hard to tell us of her troubles.  She was raising her hands to the sky and pleading.  We could not answer her as she spoke to us in Tamil.  I felt so helpless as I couldn't cheer her up with my words.  All we could do is hold her and hug her while she weeped.  The language barrier is frustrating as you want to communicate and help them.  The only way I can somehow feel better about this is if I make my body language clear and show empathy for that person.  I can't imagine what her trouble must have been.  I could only guess.  I just hope she understood that we cared. 

Stimulation overload

India is a very busy and chaotic place.  To exist and live here it requires patience and kindness.  The Indian people have this and share it with everyone.  I had many examples of this yesterday on the way to Rising Star and at our destination. 

When we arrived the day before it was at night so we didn't see where we were in complete daylight.  After the Rising Star van picked us up at ten this morning we took our two hour drive to the place Quincy and I will call home for the next three weeks.  The traffic is the first thing that I noticed.  Two lane roads become three at times when the urge to cut in arises.    Driving across the center lane is common.  Street lights are optional to obey; some stop and some go through.  People aren't required to wear motorcycle helmets.  There is no limits to the amount of passengers on a vehicle or bike.  You will see beautiful women in  colorful saris side saddling on the back of their mates motorcyle.  I saw a sign that said "Avoid using a cell phone here."  No big deal if you do, just suggesting.  The horn is used constantly to let someone know you are there, to get people to move out of your way and sometimes for no reason at all. One guy in a car did a long honk and all of these motorcycles just calmly drove to the side. The thing I notice is people here just go with the flow.  They move over, don't get upset and just take it as it comes.  In America people would get upset, become road raged and get offended with these things.  Patience and kindness are a gift in this environment.

While driving with my American eyes I saw lots of trash everywhere, condemned looking buildings with businesses in them, a miriad of unfinished road projects started long ago but left undone, shacks people dwell in and poverty at its highest level.  I also saw the countries protected cows walking everywhere. You see them in the market, stopping traffic, and sometimes in the fields.  Through my India eyes ( a term used widely here at Rising Star) I saw women dressed in eye catching saris walking patiently around the trash and ugliness adding color and beauty to their surroundings. I saw a marshy field full of a flock of pink flamingos.  Colored pots for sale at the market caught my eye as I was clicking my camera through the van window.  I also watched our patient Indian driver kindly guide us through bumpy, pot holed roads and dodgey traffic while sharing an occasional kind smile with his culture shocked, wide eyed passengers. Language isn't a barrier when kindness and patience are displayed freely.

When we finally arrived at the welcome gates of Rising Star, our volunteer coordinators showed us around and gave us a little orientation.  They work so hard for many months prior to the volunteer sessions arriving. They organize and plan for well run, productive sessions while making us feel at ease for what we will encounter during our time here.  It is obvious they work hard at creating a positive teamwork environment and encourage us to find the beauty in the people and embrace them. They are genuinely, helpful, patient and kind. 


Here is a couple of pictures of what we will be calling home for the next three weeks.  We are staying in the Elephant House where all the volunteers stay.  It is air conditioned and has wifi access.  It has indian toilets and we have to take bucket showers.  It has a room they do laundry in, a kitchen and a family room they call the Mango Room.  More pictures will be posted later.

Quincy sleeps next to me on the right on the bottom bunk.  I love all of the designed cotton blankets.  They are extremely light weight.  Later, I realized you don't need much covers here as the heat at night is cooler but still muggy.  It actually gets a little chilly with the air conditioner.  During the day it is heaven to walk in here after we have been outside with the children.

This elephant is at the entrance as you walk into the Elephant House.  If anyone knows  me well enough, they are aware of my love for elephants by some of the things in my own home.  This one is adorable. All hand carved and painted.

Meeting the kids was a energy packed experience. We went and met them at their playtime. The boys and girls are on separate two story wings of their living quarters.  They are all divided into groups of twenty that they call houses.  They have a house mother for each one and assign two volunteers to help with homework in the evening and spend time with them at bedtime.  The kids show you love from the start and make each new volunteer feel welcome.  We went and toured their houses and they were happy to tell you their name.  Many of them want you to hold them or they want to be your new best friend.  I pushed them on swings, took pictures and visited with them.  The girls are a little reserved at first and size you up quite a bit.  The thing I noticed was how the older girls take such good care of the younger ones.  They help with lots of the chores, braid one another's hair, assist with homework and even discipline another if there is a squabble.  Again, and example of patience and kindness shown to those they live with.


At dinner, we ate on banana leaves on the roof of the Elephant House under a beautiful cloth canopy held up by bamboo poles. We ate red rice and some type of curry.  I was not very hungry as the heat and humidity had been affecting me all day long. All of the staff eats together and during dinner they have a tradition of sharing a high and low for the day to the group.  After that they always have an inspirational thought and then Derek shares any announcements for what we will be doing the following day.  Quincy and are in the same work group, Scorpian.  Tomorrow we will be doing Education. I am happy about that.  I can tell the staff here really care about each other and the kids they serve.  Many of these kids come from some backgrounds that involve abuse and so it is important that patience, kindness and love is shared and shown freely and unconditionally.


At the end of the day, around 7:30 until 9 we go to our assigned houses to help with bedtime.  Quincy and I are assigned together to the Tamalarossi (spelling?) house for girls.  At this point I felt extremely exhausted and had a splitting headache.  This was not a good combination as it is very loud in these rooms.  The girls are coming at you from all sides wanting you to read to them, sit next to them and talk to them.  At about 8:30 I physically was not doing well.  I got up and left to walk out of the room for a bit and realized I was going to be sick.  The house mother, a kind older lady, asked me if I was okay and it dawned on me "I think I am ACTUALLY going to throw up....but where.  I ended up running quickly to the girls bathroom holding my hand to my mouth leaving a trail behind.  It was so embarassing as I was cleaning up after.  The house mother did not allow me to walk back and had me lay down on her bed in her room for a bit.  The display of patience and kindness from her was heartfelt  because I'm sure I was not a pretty sight.  What I noticed from this is the concern and empathy that was shown to me by the girls.  Things were cleaned up so fast and the concern was more for me than what I had done.  Quincy said many of them asked if I was going to be okay.  In America I think this experience would have been much more humiliating as many would be...eww, gross.  As soon as I got back to the Elephant House it was a bucket shower, ibuprofen and bed.  I think I had experienced some dehydration and  heat exhaustian that had made me so ill. I was much better the next day.  In the morning at school, many of the girls came up and embraced me and asked if I was feeling much better.  The house mother did as well.  The Indian people are patient and kind.

We made it! Our first evening in India.

So, it's four in the morning and  I'm listening to the city come alive and wake up to start it's day.  We arrived here around midnight...baggage and all. Whew!  My day will be starting soon as Rising Star will be coming to pick us up at 10:00 am.  We will drive two hours until we reach the welcome gates and begin our service....sooo excited and anticipating a wonderful experience.

I'll share a few highs and lows of our trip so far. I'll get one of the lows over with.
I left my treasured kindle on one of the planes in the flap of the seat.  Enough said...grrr.

High.  I have experienced the kindness of the people from India already.  I notice how so many of the Indian men offered help with my luggage as I was getting carry ons in the overhead bins.  I know this isn't due to my good looks as I was looking a little rough especially towards the tail end of our journey.  25 hours of traveling is not pretty. 

A tiny low....we had a delay in Chicago that messed up the connecting flight in New Delhi.  I had arranged ahead to have a chauffeur pick us up from the Marriot.  I knew I would miss that.   Quincy and I also got split up and couldn't sit together when we got on the new flight.

  Luckily, here is the high, sitting next to me, I got to know a kind man named, Bali, who it turned out is a pediatric doctor for the hospital in Chennai.  He shared with me a lot of his thoughts about India, his experiences of traveling in the U. S. and other places.  It made the flight go by so fast. While visiting he offered to share his taxi with us since it would be going by the Marriot anyways.  I was so thankful for that as it lessened the anxiety of figuring out the taxi system here and the fear of the unknown. When we arrived to the hotel our car was approached by security guards.  They had to scan all of our luggage, my purse and had a separate stall, like in the airports, where they body scan you.  Bali, had explained that the heightened security has occurred since the bombing in Bombay. Without payment for the taxi he wished  us a wonderful stay in India.  Thank you, Bali. I hope to pay this favor forward to someone else.  

High.  We met a three of the Rising Star volunteers. One was seated next to Quincy...Hilary from Provo.  The other two are from Florida and friends with one of my older daughter's friends.  The world is so small.

High.  Quincy's jerky made it through customs and same with her fruit and nut mix.  Her Costco favorites.

High.  We got friendly, nice help in the Marriot for two worn out girls.  Also warm showers and clean teeth.

High.  We got to skype at 3am India time with Karli, Russ and Chloe.  I already miss my clan left behind.

High.  This view outside my plane window of the sunrise as we were flying towards Greenland.  The picture is good but it was breathtaking in person.
This is going to be a wonderful trip. Time for some shut eye.

LESS THAN 16 DAYS!

It is 2:30 am.  Most people are in dreamland by now, peacefully sleeping so they are well rested for tomorrow.  Not me...I'm on this blog typing, making check lists, thinking about our India trip.  Well, this is no record for me being up late because my mind won't settle down.  It has been a life's pattern for as long as I can remember.  It happens a little more frequently when something big is about to happen or if I am a little over stressed about something.  Usually it is a combination of both.

Karli and Jeff

 The last time I recall this happening was this past fall as the wedding planning for my daughter was in full swing.  We had less than three months to plan a Dec. 11th wedding and I didn't know what the heck I was doing.  I had just changed jobs in the school district and was now instructing secondary ELL kids from eleven different countries and three different schools.  It was crazy to say the least. As always everything turned out perfect, especially them.  The lack of sleep was the sacrifice but so worth it.

A few essentials

This time it is our India trip.  I can't stop thinking about what we still need to do to get prepared for this big adventure. 

We don't have a lot left to do at this stage.  We have to do some shopping for a few necessities to take on the trip.  We have to come up with an activity to do with the kids that teaches them a skill or is something fun that they would enjoy.   I'm open to any ideas or suggestions you may have.  Inexpensive, creative and with very little to pack is what we are looking for.

Most of all I can't stop thinking of how I will respond to the Indian culture and the situations we will be placing ourselves in. This will be so different than anything I will have been exposed to.

I am nervous about how we will respond when going into the colonies.  I am hoping that compassion will take over and we are able to rise to the occasion.

I am nervous about Indian toilets and bucket showers.  Enough said.

I am trusting that the vaccinations and meds will do what they are supposed to do.  I am hoping that the lice are on vacation somewhere else while we are there.  Let's hope Niks keeps them at bay.

I am nervous about getting off of the plane,(hopefully our bags arrive) and trusting that the hotel driver is there to pick up two very jet lagged and tired ladies up.

I am hopeful that we are packing just enough of the right stuff.  I won't know where to get it once I get there.  This is a one shot deal.

Safety is my highest concern as I know India operates a lot different from America.  I have Quincy in my care and that makes me even more aware of this.

The language barrier is a challenge and somewhat intimidating.

Figuring out the exchange in rupees is a little befuddling.  I get confused with changing dollars into pounds.

At this point I am beginning to sound like I am scared silly.  I know there is no growth in myself if I remain in my comfort zone always.  To grow you have to step outside of that and experience new things.  I know Quincy and I are up for this.  I need to be positive and know that through these experiences we are going to change and contribute to something much bigger than us.  The time is near.  The anticipation is intense.  Writing and venting on this blog is therepeutic.  Once we step on the plane the waiting will be over and the ride will officially begin.  Like the wedding, I know this trip is going to be unforgettable and worth the lack of sleep.  Sixteen days.