A Grateful Heart

Grateful.  I'm grateful for working hands.  I'm grateful for legs that can carry me.  I'm grateful for eyes that can see.  I'm grateful for ears that can hear.  I'm grateful for a family that loves me.  Many of those thoughts came to my mind these past couple of days.

This was one of the worse feet I washed today.  He came in with
no bandages and went straight to toenail cutting and then my
washing station.  His skin was very brittle and the odds of there
being much left of this foot within a year is pretty slim.

Navamani is the nurse that comes with us.  She spends her
days trimming the dead tissue away from patients ulcers. 
This can be very painful for them.  She also applies salve
 and packs them with salt when needed. She is so kind,
 patient and gentle in how she treats patients while training
 volunteers on how to wrapthe wounds after she treats them.
  Stacey is doing the bandaging. I did this the day prior.

This is a severely affected hand from
a man that we treated.  All four
limbs were affected.

 We have been doing medical in a couple different colonies.  Out of the two days today I washed the feet and hands of some of the most severely affected leprosy patients I have seen so far.  My heart ached for each one of them as some of the ulcers were so large and open that many of them were very painful.  Majority of the time the tissue and nerves are so damaged that the patient feels no pain.  The volunteer coordinator, Kim, told me about one guy who came in to be served a while back with a nail in his foot that he didn't know he stepped on.  That is how some of the ulcers start and get so bad.

Many of the patients from today had all four limbs affected.  Some only had stumps for legs and stumps for hands.  Some of the fingers and toes are all curled up and deformed.  The flies will not stay away from the affected areas.  I was shooing those away as I washed there feet.  If you look at the skin going up the legs or arms it is brittle and you know that it will become ulcered very soon.  This disease eats away at the body and never lets up.

This sweet lady and I became friends.  We both made
each other smile.  Although there was a language barrier, it
was no big deal.  We managed to crack each other up.  She
smiles even though she deals with the challenge of having
all four limbs affected.

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This is Joseph. He sings Christian songs constantly.
 He has no working limbs and cannot see or hear very well due to the leprosy.
  He is a sweet and handsome man. It makes me sad that he has to live life
 with these physical challenges.
  The other picture is of Quincy cutting away some bandages.
  This patient's feet were in terrible condition.
  

  The colony today that we worked at was made up of elderly, single people.  Most of them have had spouses die or have been forgotten about from their families. This is a new colony that Rising Star has taken under their wing.  They are partnering with the Damien Foundation to help this colony.  This foundation has taken interest in the leprosy problem and draw volunteers from all over the world.  We spoke with some volunteers that were from Belgium.  They were doing some major building projects on site and it was looking good.  It is refreshing to know that there are other organizations making a difference and creating change as Rising Star is.  We are not alone and by uniting change will occur at a more rapid rate. 

Sometimes just having your hands held is comforting.  This man
didn't have a lot of that to hold but the fact that I will touch his
affected limbs is a sign of acceptance and compassion.

Quincy was in charge of bandage removal. 
This can be smelly and very shocking as you view
 how bad the wound has progressed since the
last bandage change.  She was very good at
taking on this job and was so tender with these
elderly patients. She has a special spot in her
 heart for this age group.

One thing I have noticed with the people we have worked on is the gratitude for us being there and treating them as the valuable, precious people they are.  We comfort them when the wounds become hard to bear when being treated.  We look them in the eyes with love.  We communicate with them as best as we can.  We hug them and sometimes even kiss them.  We touch them and hold their hands and feet with compassion. Society has not treated these people like this so they hunger for something as simple as a genuine smile.  It brings me joy to get them laughing. 

Quincy and I and our two room mates Ashley and Savannah made
these ladies laugh.  In our room at Rising Star we do not lack in
fun.  They are always doing something to crack me up.  Today
they blew up gloves, wrote faces on them and at one point they
were turned upside down and made into udders.  The ladies laughed
and enjoyed being a part of our girl group.  It was a special moment.

Everyone has a job in our group. 
Carl had the job of emptying and
replenishing the three water stations.
They are changed between each patient.
Every job is so important for us  to care for
as many patients as we can in an orderly
fashion.  Carl definately earned the title of
"Water boy" as me and Ashley were
 affectionately calling him.

My sweet new friend, Navamani.  I had to post
this because she looked so lovely in blue and
we matched.  She sure schooled me in bandage
wrapping the other day.  We are kindred spirits.

In return we gain and learn so much from these people.  I have learned the value and importance of being touched and the good feeling I always get from serving others. I have learned that people don't need a lot to survive.  Most of these people live with the extreme basic in necessities.  They have food (mostly rice), water (not clean enough for my body to accept) and a roof (sometimes only thatched) over their heads.  What they are lacking in is enough love from their society and physical limits that they admirably deal with. With all this they still smile.  I feel embarrassed that people from back home, including me, have so much, but sometimes want more or can't seem to find happiness in the life they are living.

Here is a couple more pictures of what some of the affects of leprosy have done to these people.  I feel it is important to post as many do not know what this is like and that it still exists.  It is still thriving in many parts of our world, especially in India.  I feel fortunate to be able to be a part of creating change in the treatment and stigma for these men and women.  By serving these people it has fed my soul.  I'm grateful.

Ray was working in between Quincy and I.
His job was to clip the toenails.  The few
that exist on their feet and hands.  It is an
important step as those nails can dig into
the skin and injure it.

This is what is left of this man's foot.
When Quincy took off the bandage, it
was almost all an ulcer.  He went straight
to my washing station.  After that we
put oil put on the area surrounding the ulcer.
When that is done the dead tissue is cut off,
and then they are bandaged.  I had that job yesterday.