Indian Food-A Love/Hate Relationship

The food in India has been, let’s see, interesting. If you are a person that can take hot and spicy food, this is the cuisine of choice. If you are a person that likes to eat the same food every night, Rising Star food is for you.

An hour after dinner on my first night at Rising Star I threw up due to heat exhaustion. After that, red rice and I had a horrible relationship. Unfortunately, that is the main dish practically each night at Rising Star. It is healthier and unshelled rice that is a little heartier than brown rice. Sometimes yellow, vegetable rice is served. It has a soy based meat product they put in it in place of chicken. You have to watch for the little black things they put in it or your mouth will be on fire in 0 to 60 seconds.Also served is a watery, yellow curry that has cut vegetables in it. It usually has a kick to it and resembles chicken soup. You put it on top of the rice. Sometimes they had this off- white curry that was goopy, and again, spicy. 

Side dishes were a hit or miss… usually the latter. I liked when we had sliced green beans. It had spices in it that gave it a gourmet twist. There was also a dish that is made from the banana tree that resembles a yellow green bean if it was chopped up. It was not a favorite for me or Quincy. Unusual tasting beets were served sometimes.  Some people liked these, but I have never been a lover of beets.  Another side dish was these pureed beans that were extremely spicy.  They tricked me as they looked like they were refried beans.  Sometimes the spicy food would make my lips and the inside of my mouth feel numb and tingly as if I had just had my mouth worked on by the dentist.  As you can see I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy food.  Many of our volunteers loved this food.

About once a week they have chicken. It is little bony chicken pieces with, again, spice added to the coating. Sometimes they had fish that had bones in it with a coating and the skin. It was always a nice surprise to scoop up some curry and find a fish head giving you a smile.

We also, every day, sliced up a variety of vegetables and fruit. This was a life saver because on the less than desirable fish nights or ultra-spicy evenings, we would fill up on these somewhat American tasting options. As you can probably tell, we are India food’s number one fans!!I was disappointed that we missed the mango season as I was itching for a fresh mango plucked off of a tree just outside my window. Those and coconut trees are all over the Rising Star campus.  We did get to eat pineapple often and we got to have pomegranate fruit daily.

 Chupati night is always on Friday. This is bread that has a pita consistency. Everyone likes that bread when it is offered. Occasionally they serve tipuli, a rice circle patty bread. I wasn’t a fan of it. It tasted like perfume.

 Eating with the kids when I was on the education rotation was a treat. We all met in the open air dining hall. White rice is always served with three different curries and another side dish. They serve this one milky, watery, white one that was not too tasty. The kids like to put it on their rice and drink the left overs. Everyone would sit with their families in a circle. Each kid has her own tin plate with his own name on it. No silverware is used. The fine-tuned technique of eating with your hands is displayed. I tried it once and was not too successful. The curry was too hot on my hands and I had it on my face and everywhere else. The girls schooled me on this with smirks on their faces.

Being secluded from normality in ingestion and digestion, I often craved chocolate or something a little salty. That is something you don’t get there unless you bring it or buy it in one of the villages. Village snacks are much different than what we were used to, so even that was not much of a break. They have chocolate hard biscuits.  In the villages there isn't the funds for refrigeration for soft chocolate and extras like that.  It just gets too melted. Although, they sold packaged ice cream in old freezers that tasted exactly like what we have in America, we definitely took advantage of that option.  That would happen once in a while as we were coming home from the leprosy colonies.

 Every night, the group ate dinner on the roof of the hostel using banana leaves as plates under a colorful canopy held up with bamboo poles. We would each stand up and share a high and low for the day. We would have an inspirational thought that someone would share and go over any announcements. It was always nice to gather together at the end of the day.

Some of our highs consisted of something precious that one of the children said, an especially rewarding experience in one of the colonies, or discovering another reason why we have fallen in love with India.

 Some of the lows were usually reactions to the heat, or to the large masses of mosquitoes, or being incredibly tired.

Chef Chanelle, one of the volunteers, saved us many of the nights when we could not bring ourselves to eat red rice one more evening by making us french toast, sometimes even at 10:30 pm.  I love that girl!


Chanelle enjoying some paratha.

 Sometimes when we came home from a weekend excursion we would stop at this little road side place that served Perattha. It is bread that is a cross between a tortilla and a croissant. They serve it with a light green dipping sauce and a mini omelet with onions in it on the side. It was only 10 rupees for each item you order. We usually had three Paratha and one omelet, which meant we spent less than a dollar for a whole meal! Oh how we love the exchange rate in India.

When we went to Northern India on our Taj Majal excursion the tour guides took us to a nice Northern India restaurant. I was excited to see Korma chicken on the menu. It is a yellow mild curry. When I had it I was very pleased to know that the Indian restaurant, Ghandi’s, near my house tasted just the same. All of the volunteers filled up on the naan bread. It is dry bread that looks grilled on the outside.

Quincy and I shared a chocolate chip sundae at Pizza Hut.

 Because of our constant craving for food that did not burn our taste buds off, we experienced Pizza Hut, India style. It is a sit-down restaurant and always full of customers. Many of the pizza options would not be found in America because they cater to the Indian palate. Quincy couldn’t find Canadian bacon and pineapple on the menu. A lot of cheese bread and pizza were ordered that night. Ice Cream cones were ordered at McDonald’s. I had a diet coke there from the soda fountain; they don’t have ice offered in any drinks in India. I wouldn’t have had it anyways because the water is questionable for Americans to ingest. I received the wonderful gift of traveler’s diarrhea that night. I swear it was either from the soda fountain pop or just eating more than I had that past two weeks. Thank heavens for the travel nurse’s recommendation to get a prescription for that.

 Luckily, we didn’t go to India for the food because we would have been devastatingly disappointed. The people are what make us want to go back… but not the ones that cook.

Family Time with the Tamilarasi House

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This little one in our house is name Tamilarasi too,
 coincidentally. Doesn't she have a dynamite smile?

Quincy and I are assigned to the Tamilarasi house. The houses are named after the house mother of that particular set of girls.



 

The hostel has many houses. A house consists of a main gathering room and two large bedrooms and a small room for the house mom to sleep in. It has cement floors. The girls are split up between the two large rooms. Those rooms also have laundry hanging to dry in them daily. 

They have a cabinet that stores their blankets, folded uniforms and play clothes. It also has shelves where the girls can store their personal belongings, like their backpacks. The building itself is two stories high and has a large communal bathroom and showers on each floor. There is a separate boys building nearby.



The girls all have shared chores to get the laundry done, help do hair, organize snack and keep the place tidy. The older kids get the weight of the chores.



At bedtime they sleep on the hard floor on a mat or blanket with a pillow. At first I was taken aback when I saw this but most of these kids sleep this way in their own homes. As a matter of fact, the conditions are cleaner for many of them as some of their own homes sometimes have dirt floors and the toilet is an outhouse squatter.



Daily we have family time. The girls look forward to Quincy and me arriving from 7:30-9 every night. Usually they are working on homework. We have helped them study for tests, do math and we were no help when it came to homework taught in Tamil.  Sometimes we brought books in and we read them to each other. We had wonderful conversations about one another’s lives. Many of them are fascinated by where we come from as we feel the same about them.




Check out my pipe cleaner headband that was made for me.

Thursday nights are what they look forward to. That is designated talent night. The volunteers are in charge of planning something for their house to do. I was really worried about this when we were asked ahead of time to plan this.  I guess I was worried about not boring the older kids or doing something that has been overdone. All this worry was so unnecessary. I’ll tell you why. These kids old and young are so grateful for anything. It amazes me and makes me feel sad that I don’t see this more in the states. One evening a girl brought out some treasured pipe cleaners and we were forming them into headbands, bracelets and flowers. I don’t remember the last time I have seen older kids be entertained by these.



  The first Thursday we brought in these foam picture frames with all kinds of foam stickers and letters. I had them put their names on it and decorate them. The house mother got their pictures to put in them and they hung them high up on the walls in their bedrooms. Not one sticker went to waste. They scavenged the leftovers and they all were so proud of their creation. I was disappointed I didn’t have my camera with me on this activity.

 

The next week we made edible bracelets. This was a big hit!  The girls loved this and we had many photo opportunities. I had some sugary thin ropes that they strung Fruit Loops on. The finishing touch was a gummy, peach apple ring to be threaded on as the big jewel. The children don’t get much sugar, so they were savoring every bit of it. One story I heard later from a volunteer in another house was that one of my girls took an extra peach ring I gave her into one of the other houses and split it eight ways so those girls could try it. That touched me. I witness this generosity all of the time with these kids.

This is our favorite girls after getting their bindis on and some are still
eating their tootsie pops!  Each one of them are so unique in their own
special way.  I am blessed to know these young women.

The third week I had brought Tootsie Pops. They all picked a color and we played the right and left game as I read them a story about a Mother Kangaroo trying to make her baby Roo smile. They had to pass their sucker to the right on the word smile and left on the word Roo. I told them that we picked this book because of all of the smiles they have shared with us and how much they have made us smile. After that, we talked about how special each one of them is on the inside and because of that it radiates outwardly. I read them The Ugly Duckling and we talked about how they need to always stand up for each other and be the best sisters they can to one another. We talked about looking for the inward beauty in others rather than judging only on the outward package. After that we had them say something they think is special about themselves on my video camera and then Quincy put a bindi between each of their eyes signifying the beauty shining outwardly. It was a special night. In both our hearts we knew that our dreaded last day was rapidly approaching and our precious time with our newfound family was coming to an end.



Family time has been a bonding time. We have had some special moments. Every evening we have tucked these girls in, hugged them and gave a kiss when needed. They have showered us with love and embraced us. Every night I would tell them something that my Scottish grandma used to say. Good night, Sleep tight, Don’t let the bugs bite. Sweet Dreams. By the second night they were saying it too. Sweet Dreams, Tamilarasi house. You all deserve them and hopefully you will follow your dreams as you continue to grow into wonderful women. I love each one of you girls and will miss our time together. 

Dental is a Luxury

Getting a dental checkup is a luxury for many people in India. Recently the children at Rising Star had a teeth screening and many were referred for additional dental care due to having a cavity or needing a tooth pulled. The children were very excited and appreciative of this. Most of them, until they came to live at Rising Star, had never seen a dentist. This is because they are from a leprosy affected family or they do not have the money. 

Scorpion team with our brave dental patients

On our medical rotation we took the children that were being referred to the dentist to get their teeth worked on. Each volunteer was assigned to a child to escort them through the process and show moral support.



  

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Vino

I was assigned to Vinodhini. She is in the house of girls Quincy and I share. We know each other pretty well. Everyone calls her Vino, the “I” is pronounced like a long e. She was having a cavity filled and she was one brave cookie.





This is dirt around the dental chair...ugh.

One thing about India that is very different from the U.S. is that the cleanliness and privacy standards are quite a bit lower. There were about 20 different dental chairs in a huge room. It wasn’t like how when we go to the dentist and you get your own little private cubicle to have your teeth worked on. The floors were not clean and the equipment is just rinsed off in between patients. Sterilizing is a hit and miss deal. Although the floor isn’t clean, they make you take your shoes off before you go in that room to walk on their dirty floor. Sometimes things like that seem so conflicted in this country.



This young girl was so tough. Before she got her tooth filled they put the swab in her mouth to make it go a little bit numb. In the U.S. we would have that done prior to getting a shot. In India they bypass the shot and the patient just bears the pain. I could tell it was uncomfortable as her feet were curling up and her eyes were watering, but she toughed it out and got the work done.

 I was glad I was there to comfort her. At times like this is when I am sure these kids miss their parents. I hope that I was a comfort to her. I have to say this was another one of those thankful moments I had for being able to go to a dentist that I absolutely love ( that’s you, Rose HoldrenJ) and having the luxury of going whenever necessary. Sometimes the little things I take for granted are so huge for people here.

Stolen my heart

There is a young girl here who has stolen my heart.  Her name is Vijajalakshmi.  Most people call her Bujji, spoken with a long u.  She is in my house and the connection is so strong.  At Rising Star they call all the female volunteers "Auntie" and the boys "Uncle" or they call you by your name.  Bujji told me those weren't good enough.  She wants to call me "Mama".  It melted my heart.  I truly count her as my daughter from India.

My fourth daughter

    She has an amazing smile with an adorable dimple.  I have watched her help the other girls in her house with homework, translating English (she is very good at speaking it) and making them feel good about themselves by the compliments she gives them.  She is the definition of a true leader at the tender age of 11.  One evening during family time we were doing profiles for the website on the children.  It had lots of questions that they had to answer about their likes and dislikes.  One of the questions was to write something that is good about that person.  One of my girls, Eswari, didn't really know what to write about herself.  At times I feel that she feels left out as there are a lot of sisters within our house.  Bujji noticed that and took her paper and wrote some of the most lovely things about Eswari on it.  I looked at both of them and said that they have a sister in each other.  You can choose who your sisters are.  They both smiled.


The positive energy that radiates from her is contagious.  She wants to be a dancer someday.  Life dance has been brought to this school and so many of the kids have embraced it.  Bujji dances with confidence and brings her light to the stage.  She dances with a natural grace.  I want her dream to come true.

Helping Bujji study for her science test.  She got a perfect grade!

A few of my favorite moments with her have been helping her to study for science and hearing how well she did on the test the next day.  Another one is sitting by her at lunch on the days I am on campus and can eat with the kids and visiting with her.  Another one is when she says "Good night, mama" as she wraps her arms around me affectionately.  My favorite moment was when she blew me a kiss out of the classroom window as I walked by.  All of the windows are open air and she sits next to it.  Daily we find one another and there is always a smile and a hug available.  If I could pack her up in my suitcase I would bring her home with me.  She would fit right in.

This beautiful woman embraced me.  All for of her limbs
are affected by leprosy.

This past Monday when I was with the medical team, we went to the colony where Bujji's grandma and father live.  Her father splits his time between taking care of his leprosy affected mother and living in a different place with his wife and oldest son.

I was so pleased to meet her grandma, Maria.  She walked in right away and greeted everyone like she owned the place.  She was saying "Vannakum" to everyone and giving hugs.  When Kim, our coordinator, introduced Quincy and I as people that spend a lot of time with Bujji, she embraced me and kissed me.  Quincy washed her feet and I bandaged them.  I can see where Bujji gets her radiance.

Later when we were finished, we visited her and her dad in her home.  It is a very humble place with very little.  She invited us in to sit with her on the floor.  She asked if I would say a prayer with her.  It was a very intimate moment as we prayed together and I can't remember feeling the spirit as strong as I did in the presence of this woman.  The words just came straight from my heart.  She had Quincy put eye drops in her eyes.  The leprosy has affected her eyes.  She quietly lay in Quincy's lap and you could see the relief come over her face.  We visited with her son for a little bit and told him how special his daughter is and how much we love her. Shortly after that we had to leave.  That evening I showed her the pictures I took and she beamed with pride.

Posing with her candy bracelet we
 made for talent night.  Check out
that beautiful smile.

It was so nice to have this moment and see where Bujji spends her time.  She is such a compassionate girl like many of the kids at Rising Star.  I feel they are this way because so many of them have helped and nurtured relatives and parents that suffer from this dreadful disease.  She will always be my fourth daughter from India.  I'll be her "Mama" any day.

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.

Sharing my Passion

Teaching children has always been my passion.  As a little girl, I remember setting up the basement to look like a school and convincing my brothers to be my students. 

 When I was a stay at home mom, I was always drawn to educational toys and even sold them at one time.  I loved reading to my daughters and exposing them to knew things.  I think that gave my daughters a good foundation for their academic success.  Russ has always been equally a huge part in this as well.  They also have been blessed with never having to worry about their physical needs being met or having significant learning challenges, so their job of learning has been much easier to achieve. 

 In my career  I have always enjoyed teaching those that struggle in their learning.  In the past I have taught kids with behavior challenges, learning disabilities and others that just need a little help until a certain subject clicks. 

 Currently I teach the foreign population in our school district English which has become something I love.  I also enjoy seeing kids begin to like learning when their past attitude has been negative.

  Since we have been to India I have worked on the education rotation three times.  It is a resource room setting.  We do it in their small library.   Most of it is done one on one and sometimes we do things in a small group.  I enjoy teaching to small groups or individually because you get to know the students so much better.

Many of the kids here have come from some challenging home lives.  They have seen things that no child should ever witness.  Just like in America, this affects their focus on learning.  When physical needs, like love, safety, food and shelter are not being met it is almost impossible for a child to learn.  It is a little hard to think about academics when you are worried about surviving.  That takes a back seat.  Rising Star, for many kids, meets these needs and allows a child to succeed and move forward.

 One adorable, eight year old girl, I read with today came here a short while ago. I wish I had a picture of her.  Her mom died in a "kitchen fire".  Here older brother (maybe 8 years old, I'm guessing, at the time) witnessed his dad become angry with his mother and light her on fire. The dad got off with a very slight punishment. The kids came here very sad and broken.  They have improved and have felt loved and cared for by everyone.  She is becoming such a good little reader and has a contagious smile. I can't get over how strong some kids can be as they handle and process through some difficult and challenging situations.  I learn daily that kids are resilient and very forgiving.

Another child I have worked with each time for math and reading is a boy named, Basha.  As a volunteer, I don't really know  the educational or personal background of each of these kids.  I also don't know how they have interacted with other people in the past.  This boy has responded well to me.  He struggles the most with math, therefore, his attitude has not been good either.  He likes to push limits and looks for where the boundaries are.  Derek, the education coordinator, said he has not responded to anyone as well as he has to me.  It made me feel very good.  He said his countenance is different and he is so engaged.  He hasn't seen that from him.  He also shared with me that he comes from an abusive home.  He has witnessed a great deal of domestic abuse.  His father repeatedly hits his mom, who he loves and worries about. 

As we did math today, he was so proud that he was getting the multiplication and had to show Derek and Celina, the principal, what he had achieved. 

 In reading, he didn't want to stop.  He completed his work and wanted to show me his skills in reading a book nearby.  We also played vocabulary bingo and was so proud of getting a bingo.  Afterwards he wanted to spend more time with me and said to come to playtime and meet him at the blue bench.  I don't know why some kids connect with certain adults.  That has always been a mystery to me.  I know one thing, I love when it happens and I love when that person is me. 

Basha was so proud he got "Black Out" in bingo.