Volunteer in India! You know you want to....

It has been 5 months since I left the beautifully smiling faces of my Indian friends. I miss them everyday and wish with all my heart that I could return to them this summer. But alas, I have to do grown up things like internships and graduating from college. I can't thank you all enough for sharing this experience with me and, since I can't go back, I would like to list some reasons why YOU should volunteer in India this summer.

1. Rising Star Outreach is an incredible organization run by incredible people.
2. Its working! The efforts by RSO to eliminate leprosy have been super successful, but we still have a little ways to go.
3. They need us. They need people like you who care about humanity and want to make a change in the world.
4. As much as you want to improve the lives of the people you will meet there, they will change your heart forever. I am forever changed by my experiences.
5. Your friends and family will be astonishingly supportive of your service. It will not be difficult to raise the money to make your Indian adventure a reality.

If, like me, you are unable to spend a few weeks in India this summer, I would encourage you to sponsor a child at the Peery Matriculation School. For just $30 a month, you make it possible for an underprivileged child to receive an English-based education. More importantly, however, you give that child much-needed love and encouragement to succeed. I sponsor little Karl Marx and I can't wait to watch him grow and learn. As a college student, $30 a month is a chunk of cash, but having met Karl and knowing of his potential, it is a sacrifice that I will always be willing to make.

I hope I was slightly inspirational, and I don't know if anyone is still following this old thing, but if you are considering doing some sort of humanitarian trip this summer, I strongly encourage you to research Rising Star Outreach here. It is a unique opportunity and one that is entirely possible to execute. Thank you again for your continued support in my obsession with all things India. You all are the best.

www.risingstaroutreach.org

Til We Meet Again

If I had to have a last day here, I could not have asked for a better one. Today we went to the Moot colony, a colony completely run by Rising Star. It is very small and very old and very isolated. These people do not have or know of a world outside of their small community because they have no means of transportation and most are severely crippled. Rising Star brings them rice and beans once every 2 weeks and that is the only way they survive. Spending time with these people today, I realized how special each of them is and how my life is richer having known them.

Meet Saroja: Saroja is so tiny and looks even smaller as she moves around on 2 fingerless hands and one stump of a foot. She cannot weigh more than 60 pounds. She contracted leprosy at around age 5. She is in her late sixties now, and in addition to her disfigured and missing limbs she suffers from a half paralyzed face and sunken eye. Dr. Kumar told us how she married at age 14 to Krishna, another member of the colony. He was physically abusive to her for most of their marriage, but now he gets around on a little tray with wheels, pushing himself with his sandled hands. Even though she hates him and they do not live together, she still makes his food everyday because he cannot do it on his own. This woman, who has so little, takes part of her ration of rice and beans, crushes it up, and feeds it to the birds. It is what makes her happy, giving to those less fortunate than herself. I cannot think of a better example of charity and strength.

Meet Jay Raj: Jay Raj is the entertainer. There was not a moment while we were there that he didn't have a huge smile on his face. He spent most of our visit dancing to what few Indian songs I currently have in my repertoire (Thank you, Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack) and some American songs as well. It never ceases to amaze me how much joy some of these people have in their circumstances. It really makes me look at my life in a new light. Is it bad that they do so much more for me than I could ever do for them?

It was really sad to leave Moot, especially knowing that I probably won't see these people ever again in this lifetime. I hate that this trip has to end. I hate that there isn't more I can do right now. Let me stay.

I have been preparing myself for this last play time with the kids. And by preparing, I mean avoiding the fact that it is my last time with the kids. There are so many relationships that I've begun that have only just started to blossom, and it breaks my heart to have to say goodbye so soon. Play time was over too fast. Vicky and little Gracie held each of my hands as we walked to the Dining Hall for prayer time. I sat between them and just looked into their beautiful faces. These children have so much love to give and crave so much in return, and it just kills me that I can't give it to them.

After dinner, I took my little disposable camera (which I had to reteach myself how to use) and took photos of me with all my favorite kiddos. I'm going to mail the pictures back to them when I get them printed and hopefully start some sort of mailing correspondence. I am genuinely concerned and interested in their education and futures and I want to keep in touch. I see how happy they get when they receive letters from their sponsors and I want to give them that joy. I just hung out with my boys for a little while. We played soccer and Vicky painted my nails a horrendous jaundice yellow, and when it was time for bed, I lined them all up to get a kiss from me. What followed was a solid 40 minutes of giggling, tickling, and kissing. I am so in love with these kids and their laughs. When they smiled at me and kissed my cheek, I could die of happiness. It was the hardest thing in the world to say goodbye to them.

Tonight we gathered in the mango room with Steele and Sarah and all took turns reading a journal or blog entry and telling everyone why we came to India. I shared my Shakthivel story and showed them my plastic wall hanger. As for why I came to India, I think it was to learn to love more purely. I think it was to participate in something bigger than myself, to serve others so completely that my worries and troubles would melt away in the things that really matter in this world. I will miss the children, I will miss the people I've met in the colonies, I will miss my fellow volunteers, I will miss India.

I will love, I will serve, I will feed the birds.

Can I Adopt Them All?

Another perfect day in India. Every night I go to bed thinking today was the new best day of my life. I am so blissfully happy here. I don't have a care in the world outside of these children, their education, their families in the leprosy colonies, and what more I can do for them. I cannot come to terms with the fact that tomorrow is my last day with their smiling faces.

I got to tutor three of my favorite boys today: Vicky, Shakthivel, and Vijay. Vicky and I are buds. We are always so happy to see each other and I literally wish I could take him home with me. He has a smile that lights up my life and has a quiet assurance about him. It will be very hard to say goodbye to him tomorrow. And then there is Shakthivel. That boy is the sweetest thing in the world I think. I already dedicated like an entire post to him but I could talk about him forever. He has changed me with his pure love and ability to sacrifice to make others happy. I will keep that silly wall hanger thing forever. Bless his heart. Vijay always has a smile on his face. He has a crazy eye, so you never really know what he's looking at, but he is a special boy to me. He had me the first time I went through his memory book. It was a gift that I was able to have personal time with all three of them today at tutoring.

Everyone wanted to play soccer again today at play time, but there were a lot more kids this time. Once a few of the older boys joined Team Mary, the younger ones on Team Jesus sort of gave up. It wasn't fun to see their excitement turn like that. Boo older kids. We decided it was a good time for a water break, and Vicky found me at prayer time to walk with him to the dining hall. I freaking love him. Why do I have to leave?

I actually enjoyed dinner tonight. Like enough to have seconds. That was a first. It wasn't much different from what we usually have but it was sooo delicious tonight. Either I'm getting used to it or I'm starving. We ate on the roof. Its been a while because it rained a lot while we were in Delhi and everything up there was really wet. The moonrise was spectacular. I wish I had a camera.

After dinner, I went back to the Elephant house to get paper and crayons. I wanted my family to draw me pictures as a farewell present. I don't want to ever forget these kids. They are the sweetest, cutest little boys ever and I can't get over how trusting and loving they all are. They make me so happy and so tired and I love them all to pieces. Their drawings are precious. I'm really glad I thought of that.

Birds and Worms

This morning we all went together to the Bindu Art School again. It was so great to see the familiar smiling faces of the painters. I had seen another painting that I wanted to get last time I was there, but it turns out that I fell in love with one a woman in the corner had just finished. She sits on the floor near the backdoor, is deaf and nearly blind, and with her deformed hands she paints birds. It is the most amazing thing to witness. I'm pretty sure I posted a picture of her painting in an earlier post. Her paintings are not the most magnificent pieces of workmanship; in fact, they look like they could have been painted by a child. But what they represent makes them more beautiful than any museum art I have ever seen.

Most everyone left the school with paintings in hand and we headed off to the junction. A few of us made the mistake of trying some of the food people were selling on the street, only to be reminded by Sara that we might get worms now. Oops. I stocked up on my favorite Indian snacks and cookies to bring home and bought some bindi's to rock for my last few days here. I can't believe I go home this week. This trip went way too fast. I'm not ready to go back to the real world. I'm not ready to leave my little heaven here. I'm not ready to leave the kids who I've only just begun to get to know. I'm not ready to say goodbye to the wonderful, rich people I have met here who teach me lessons of service and love.

Today's high: Playing with the little girls during talent class.

Today's low: Worm scare.

Is this real life?

My mom sent me an anxious email telling me to update my blog and I apologize for not letting you all know that I would not be taking my computer along with me this weekend. I probably should have so I wouldn't have to catch up on so much now, but whatever.

The journey to Delhi began with the 3 hour bus ride back to the airport, where we boarded a plane and enjoyed a 3 hour flight. We spent a few hours driving through New Delhi and exploring Old Delhi via bicycle-powered rickshaw. New Delhi is about 100 times nicer than Chennai. It was amazing to see how clean and green it was. It didn't feel like India. We stopped at the place where Ghandi spent his last 144 days and where he was shot by an assassin. The memorial was awesome and super pretty. In Old Delhi, we rode through tiny alleyways and had a quick tour of a Jainism temple which was beautiful inside. I swear we almost got hit five or six times but it made for an exciting time. We walked through the spice market which was kind of disgusting and not as cool as it sounds. There were dead dogs lying on the sidewalk and sooo many flies. We eventually got back on the bus and slept through the 5 hour drive to Agra where the Taj Mahal is.

We got there really late and had to wake up really early in order to get to the Taj at sunrise. The whole thing was unreal. It is the single most stunning building I have ever seen in my life. It is somewhere around 500 years old and looks brand new. There is extraordinary detailing inside and outside and it has retained its original beauty because it was done with gem stones instead of paint. Everything is very symmetrical and perfect. It looks too perfect to be real, although the stone towers on the sides are intentionally leaning outward in case of an earthquake. The Taj Mahal was built by an emperor for his favorite wife when she died. So romantic.

We had to leave the Taj eventually. I probably could have stayed and looked at it all day but we had to go see the Agra Fort where this famous emperor lived. On our way, Corin and I fell under an attack of the vendors. We made the mistake of buying something and were thus bombarded. I pretended like I couldn't speak English, but apparently these vendors speak Italian too. On two occasions, we took off running to get away from them. Most stopped at that point but there were a couple boys that ran right after us. It was pretty hysterical.

Agra Fort was incredible. It was huuuuge. It just kept going and going. It really was gorgeous. My personal favorite was that there was a giant courtyard with a huge bath in the center especially for the emperor's 500 concubines. Yes, this is the same emperor who loved his wife so much he built the Taj Mahal. Took the romance out of that story real fast.

Later that night we went to the mall where they actually sell clothes on like hangers and stuff. I bought a curta that I though I might wear in America (what did I wear there? I seem to recall stretchy pants?). A little kid did henna on my arm which looks AWESOME and then we hit up McDonalds where there is not one thing on the menu that contains beef. I got a veggie burger, fries, and the most amazing ice cream sundae of all the ice cream sundaes. After dinner, we made a quick stop at the Medical Store (for future reference, remind me not to ever start my period a week early and unprepared in a foreign country that has never heard of the tampon unless I want to stop at said "medical store" that ends up being a tent on the side of the road with creepy old men smoking in the back because its the only place in India that sells feminine hygiene products). From there, we split up, half of us going to some equivalent of an off-broadway musical and the other half going to the bazaar. I was in the bazaar group and it was so fun to peruse the shops and shop my little heart out. We took a motor rickshaw back to the hotel, and as we were still negotiating the price, our driver started going. We yelled at him to let us out because we wouldn't pay him as much as he wanted and when he didn't, Mandi yells "No rupees for you!!" and he busts up laughing. Maybe we were loopy from the long day, but it was the funniest thing ever. Until we went to the hotel's discotheque and danced with crazy Indians. It was a great day.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to ride an elephant. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't to pull over onto the side of the road and meet it there. I think that if I saw the elephant before I paid for the ride, I definitely would not have paid for the ride. It was the saddest elephant I have ever seen, covered in these weird spots that made it look kind of diseased. I asked the elephant driver what the spots were and he said the elephant was female. Something is telling me that that isn't quite right but whatever. It was cool to take a little ride down the road on an elephant amongst the motorcycles and rickshaws.

I don't really want to talk about the travel back to Rising Star. It was awfuuulllll. I was so happy to get back last night. It just feels like home. I missed the kids and I missed doing productive things with my life. Today I was on medical and I've decided that while it is the hardest of the three rotations, its my favorite. We got there early today so we had a chance to walk around the colony, which is the biggest one I've been to. We met a man who had no legs from the knee down and was in the process of putting on his prosthetics when we passed by. Dr. Kumar told us of how one year ago, when he still had one good leg, he was suffering greatly and Dr. Kumar sent him to the hospital with his cell phone number in case he had a problem. A day or so later, Dr. Kumar received a phone call. He usually does not answer while he is driving but for some reason he decided to pull over and answer. It was this man, who was at the train station. He felt as if there was no hope for him and he was a burden to his wife, so if Dr. Kumar didn't answer the phone, he was going to throw himself in front of a train. Dr. Kumar testified that it is the small things we do that really matter around here, like answering the phone. He helped this man get into the hospital, which at first denied him because he has leprosy and he is doing okay now. I thought that was an amazing story.

I started off washing feet today, but there was a greater need for people testing for diabetes. I've never done that before and I kind of felt uncomfortable about it but I knew I had to do what I had to do. As they were showing me how to poke the needle into what is left of their hands, I kind of had a minor meltdown. My hands started shaking uncontrollably and I almost started crying and I didn't know what was wrong with me. Medical is so draining emotionally and I guess I just lost it for a second. I walked it off and was able to come back and do it for the rest of the time we were there, but it was rough. I feel really stupid and weak about that.

Norbin cheered me up. Norbin was blind for 20 years during which he kept to himself, was soft spoken, and reclusive. He recently was able to get cataract surgery and can see and live again. He is the most gregarious and hilarious men I have ever met. We couldn't speak a word of each others language but we had a great time just being with each other. He showed us the tattoo on his chest which looks like 2 men sword fighting. He checked out our henna hands and laughed and smiled with us. As we were parting, he burst into song and blessed us. He even threw a little beat boxing in there. He seriously made my day and I just love him for the joy he brings to everyone around him.

I was so happy to see the kids again today. I really did miss them. During play time, we had a heated soccer game. We split up into teams and I asked the kids what our team name should be. Vicky said "Team Jesus" so we all put our hands in for a "1, 2, 3, TEAM JESUS." Next thing I hear is the other team screaming, "1, 2, 3, TEAM MARY!" It felt so good to run around after so much sitting and traveling. I was soaked with sweat by dinner time. It was great.

Today's high: Meeting Norbin, Team Jesus's epic win, and the fruit and green beans I ate for dinner.
Today's low: unnecessary breakdown over stabbing people with needles

"Auntie you look supah!"

I walked through the village early early early this morning and it was really great to see everything as it was just waking up. There were cows everywhere and women drawing water from the well. People were sweeping in front of their houses and children waved to us as we walked by. It got hot far too quickly though and I found myself speed walking back to my air conditioned room.

Today was construction day in the colonies. And like any true American construction site, there were two people working and 8 people standing around. There just wasn't anything for us to do; and while that may sound like a good thing, its hard when you are here all ready to help and work hard and then you end up doing nothing instead. It kind of made me feel like I wasted my day because there is so much I could be helping with back on the RSO campus. On the bright side, I bought a painting from the Bindu Art School (I know, another painting). These paintings are done by the leprosy patients that live in the old folks home so they are extra special to me.

During our break time today, Brittany and Tricia and I got all dressed up in Sari's. All the Indian women here wear them and they are super gorgeous. Sari's are super complicated to get into so I had tiny Mira help me into it. She is a grown mother of three but probably weighs about 80 lbs. She was upset by the fact that I didn't bring any jewelry here because apparently the Sari isn't complete without some glam bling. I walked over to play time and one girl came and fixed part of it for me. Another girl looked me up and down and exclaimed, "Aunty, you look supah!"

Instead of talent classes today (which were a disaster last time) we decided to have a huge dance party with all the kids. It was soooo fun dancing with them to Indian music. They have some awesome moves. It started to rain a little bit on us and I was hoping for "dancing in the rain part dos" but the rain stopped. Joseph Stalin has a high kick that is every dancer's dream and Rajkumari is such a talented dancer that all the little kids look up to. It is amazing to see how much joy dance brings these children and how much joy their smiles bring me.

Dinner was sad tonight because its our last one all together. Katie, Raegan, and Jenny all leave this weekend and so all next week we'll just be with Steele and Sara Hendershot. Those of us who are going on the Delhi trip to see the Taj Mahal and everything are leaving at three in the morning to make it to the airport in time for our flight. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to go to bed tonight. Since I'm already falling asleep, I think I know what will inevitably happen.

Photos courtesy of photo booth. R.I.P. camera.

Today's high: dance party
Today's low: sitting around at construction

My Life is Over

It happened. My worst fear. My method of recording everything I see and do out here is destroyed. My camera is broken and I am trying so hard not to burst into sobs of self pity right now. I mean, it could be worse. Okay it couldn't really be worse. We leave for our Delhi trip Friday morning so this is just in time to make sure there are no Taj Mahal pictures for Michelle. Please feel bad for me.