Wednesday, June 25

Today we went into a colony with leprosy affected people. I saw some of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life today. When I first came I was afraid of some of the things we would do today, washing the lepers hands and feet.

The fist man whose feet I washed came and sat down and he didn't seem that thrilled to be there. But as I started to talk to him for a bit he seemed grateful and was sweet and then offered his hands to us and started smiling at us with his missing teeth.

I had brought some nail polish for this trip for the people, so then Megan and I started painting people's fingernails and they were so happy about it. Even a mom came up to us with her little baby boy and wanted us to paint his fingernails. Then one woman who we offered to paint her nails only had one toe on one foot and four on the other. She said to one of the translators, "why should I have them painted if I only have one?" Then we had him translate to her that it didn't matter that she didn't have all her fingernails, that it would still look pretty. When we were done painting the nails red, they all wanted red, she was so happy.

We also came across a man who was old and had no fingers and only a couple of toes, he was the happiest man, hugging all of us. He was laughing and saying "hallelujah" when we took a picture with him. Then the translator later told me what we said when we took a picture with him. He said, "I know Jesus must have told you a little old man needed his hands and feet washed. ' This made me so happy that I helped someone really in need of my help. It was so sad, yet rewarding to see him walk away with a smile on his face.

It was the greatest thing knowing we helped someone today.

Tuesday, June 24

A great day. We start with a morning prayer and we end the day with us going around the table at dinner and saying, "What I saw today was....." So here is what I saw today: my children working so hard in the heat without complaining or needing to be asked, friendly people happy to work with us and capable of lashing poles together without hands, children playing with other children joyfully, family spending time together serving, little children who love to be loved and have such trust and hope that it leaves you awestruck.

Tonight one of my favorite girls, Devi, greeted me and wanted to know which colony I went to today. I told her and she was so excited when she found out it was hers. I showed her pictures and she pointed out her family. I told her we built a goat shed at her colony and she was so excited. It is hard to believe that she lives there when she is not at school. She is learning to speak English and is so charismatic and with her hair all done up and clean you can't believe where she comes from, although her friendly personality is characteristic of her colony.

We pulled into Devi's colony this morning, about an hour away and went around and said hello to those that lived there in their small, 8' x 8', dirt floor, thatched huts. One old woman, who I believe was nearly blind and possibly mute who had some other deformities as well was in her hut, starting a fire for some tea. When I leaned in and said hello she smiled. Outside the doorway she had drawn lovely white chalk designs on the dirt out front. You could tell she was trying to beautify her home. She had done a beautiful job decorating other peoples doorways as well. We shook hands and chatted up with many of the residents and then started on the goat shed.

We picked up a mason along the way and he helped mark the spots for us to dig. Kendall was my partner; she would dig away with a long metal tool, and then I would dig out the hole with my hands. We would take turns until we had an 18" deep hole. While we were digging a near 70 year old woman went out into the road with her metal bowl and was collecting rocks for when we needed to backfill the holes. She would carry them back on her head and dump them near the holes. Others from the colony, a couple with thick glasses and deformed hands, almost no fingers, pitched in- helping take turns digging alongside us.

It was very hot, but we had a bit of a breeze and a large tree that had shade right by us. When we took a lunch break, I offered some of my dried mango to the woman that had been such a great helper, who worked beside us. She sucked on the mango, with her possibly 4 teeth and was really enjoying it- giving me a smile and a nod. I gave her some more and instead of hording it, she took it over to the others and shared.

We ate our lunches inside a small stone church inside the colony that had pictures of Christ on the wall and a couple of worn old benches. There was a small woman, no more than 90 pounds that lay on the step of the church, behind the small makeshift table/altar. I went up to her and rubbed her back, she turned and smiled and nodded. She only had a couple rotten teeth that made up her smile- it was still beautiful. I offered her some of the dried fruit and she was so pleased and put a piece in her mouth and then laid back down with the rest under her hand and gave me another smile. I found out that she was a mute like others, since the leprosy affects their throat and they often lose their voice.

After we started digging and had several posts in, a woman walked back to her hut, that is right next to the goat shed. She was fired up and wondering what was going on. Nate joked that she was probably saying to us, "I leave for lunch, and I come back to find a goat shed parked in front of my house?!!" It was some nice comic relief, while one of the men quickly told her that we were building a shed for their goats- she got real quiet and nodded and then she was so nice and offered to have us come sit with her.

We lashed together long skinny wood poles and finished what we could do that day, with the help of the "mayor," the 40 or so man that looked pretty healthy, he seemed to be the leader of the group- full of pride and fairly serious. By the end of the day working alongside us he became more and more friendly. The people there were so friendly and nice. We hugged them, shook their hands or their club hands and thanked them. They wanted to thank us and have their picture taken with us. We all gathered in front of the small church, even the woman who had been laying on the floor, she gathered her scraf and stood for the picture.

It was so hot by then, we got in the Rising Star van and headed back to the school. I was so proud of Kendall and Syd- they never complained once. They were down on their hands and knees working with these people and loving it.

Tonight we played with the kids from 4 pm until bedtime. The kids love to be spun around. We played games with them and then when it was bedtime we laid in their rooms and sang them "I See the Moon" again, hoping we can pass this song on to them before we leave. They learn so quickly. Nate read them a book and then we sang each child to bed. There are 25 kids in each room and the group of girls we have could not be any cuter. I feel bad because we try to remember their names but they are so different and not familiar. We try and they know we are trying. We sang a bunch of songs with them before we said goodnight. I have never seen kids that are so loving. They are smart and want to learn. The girls have beautiful deep pools for eyes with braids tied up on their heads with black bows. The boys are just wild and fun little boys. I can't not hug them and kiss them. They are so affectionate. It is amazing to see Syd and Kendall surrounded by kids, Syd had two baby girls, one in each arm and then others were gathering towards her and she just had to sit down. The older girls are attracted to Kendall and just want to talk with her and hang out with her.

Tonight we are all so tired. I am on the roof of the hostile/dorm typing. There is a tiny breeze and maybe it is about 85 degrees with the breeze, but very humid. It has been a full and rewarding day.

Tuesday, June 24

Today is our second say at Rising Star. My family and the Bertha family had the opportunity to start building a goat shed in one of the small colonies. We picked up engineer/architect/ mason at his hut on the way to the colony along with his measuring tools: stick and rope.

After a long car ride we were greeted at the colony by smiles and waves as we visited the leprosy affected people. We started to dig the foundation of the hut, or 9 holes, with some metal rods. As I dug with the rod loosening up the hard ground, my mom/building buddy, was on her knees scooping dirt from the hole. Luckily there was a breeze that helped keep our body temp down; approximately 101.5 degrees!

After "securing" the posts with rock and spare dirt, we took a lunch break inside the colonies small church. Then we snapped on a smile and went back to working lashing the branches and cement posts.

Much effort, time, love and sweat was put into helping build the first stage of the goat shed. It was fun and rewarding to see the lepers helping us out as well. It was a good, yet hot day.

Monday, June 23rd

What an amazing day. Today we finally arrived at Rising Star after a 2 1/2 drive our from Chennai. There are 25 of us here and volunteering. When we pulled in the children were all in their classrooms. We walked over to the children's dorm where we are divided up into the boys dorm and the girls dorm. I am sharing a bunk room with Kendall, Syd, Sandy, Megan and Monica. After we put our things in our rooms we dressed in the traditional top and baggy pants, charitas. We looked like a colorful bunch when we headed to the roof for our orientation. There we were told about what to expect this week and what we will be doing. Tomorrow we are building a goat shed at one of the colonies and then the next day doing hygiene at the colonies and then on Thursday, teaching at the school.

We heard from Padma, who is the head of the micro lending in the colonies. It was an honor to meet her, not just because she is the daughter of the former prime minister, but because of what she has done here in India. She is literally a modern day Ghandi. Through her formula to eliminate leprosy and the stigma associated with it, she has given lepers a chance to make a living, stop begging and gain self respect. She explained how the loans worked and how it has changed lives. She told us she would be taking us to Bindu art school to show us one result of micro loans.

The bus that we had taken us out here left and so all of us piled into 2 cars. We looked more packed than an Indian bus, and received honks of approval from passing drivers. We had 15 people in one 5 seated jeep and another 14 in the other jeep. It was a hot 45 min ride, but a great chance to get to chat with everyone.

The Bindu art school is made up of leprosy affected people, some with just club hands and feet. They work in basically a small commune, where they share the earnings of paintings sold. Their work is bright and colorful on thick homemade paper using acrylic mostly. It is contemporary in the sense that it is fairly simple but the color combinations and unique style make it so beautiful. We bought 5 paintings and could have bought more. They were so friendly, pleased that we loved their work. They all wanted a picture with us so when we left we put our arms around them and took a great picture.

Next we went to an "old folks home," for older leprosy affected people. There were 2 adorable old ladies that had to be 90 and they were sisters. Sandy and I had our picture taken with them-the sisters. 25 had to be in the big room with just cots and they either lived there or came for treatments, something else Padma had helped to do. We hated to leave,but needed to head back to see the kids.

We pulled back into Rising Star and were swarmed with over 145 of the most adorable, clever and smiley kids one could ever have the privledge of meeting. They came to us and hugged us and we hugged them. They taught us games and we taught them games and spun them around. We showed some of the little boys a picture of Sam, they wished they could meet him. They were fascinated with the girls and Syd and Kendall walked around for the next hour with the little kids in their arms. It was the most overwhelming showering of affection and attention I think any of us have ever received. They are a blessing.

We ate in the dirt out front of the dorm in a circle with the kids. We enjoyed a tasty dinner of rice, chicken and onion sauce on our plate, which was a palm leaf. After dinner, quick clean up when all we had to do was roll up the leaf and throw it out.

We then put our "families," to bed. There is a house mom for each group of 25 kids. They sleep on the floor with the kids- ages 2 to 16. We told the kids the story of Cinderella and acted it out and then taught them our favorite lullaby- I See the Moon. We then sang them each a song, laid by them on a grass mat on the cement floor and kissed the little ones goodnight. We stayed up later with the older ones who were doing their homework and they taught us how to spell our names in Tamil, their local language. They told me I had homework tonight and needed to practice my name. They have beautiful script writing in English and Tamil looks like art work written by these children- way better than my writing.

It was a wonderful day. I need to sleep so that I can be ready to build tomorrow. I see the greatest gift we can give these children and people in the colonies is our love and respect, and when we do- we feel we have received the greater gift. We have made new friends, for this I am grateful.

India

Well today was amazing! We did all kinds of things, which my mom wrote about, so I will tell you what I thought. India is so different than the Untied States. Walking down the streets people are so friendly and the children are as cute as ever, although it is sad to see many of them on the side of the roads begging. It was so fun to go to the flower market, to see the different exotic fruits and pretty flowers. It is different to see people walking barefoot through the streets in the mud and thin sandles in their colorful gorgeous saris. It is also so different to be here, but it is so fun to see all the different things and know that we are a world away from home- it is very exciting!

First Day in India

It was so exciting to wake up this morning and pull back the curtains of our hotel in Chennai. Last night we arrived at 1 a.m., after another 11 hour flight, to a rain storm in a dark city. This morning it was exciting to look out the window and see colorful saris amidst a city with motorized rickshaws, debris stacked alongside small shanty homes and shaddy trees covering stacks of scooters and bicycles.

We met our guide and headed straight for a local Hindu temple- more brightly colored than any temple I have seen in Asia. They believe their gods to have over 33,000,000 forms and these temples must have depicted at least a tenth of those. As we entered, a woman put strands of sweet smelling jasmine in our hair, and actually proceeded to fix my hair so that I might look "more beautiful."

There were several wedding ceremonies going on with burning incense, offerings of coconut to the gods, and music playing. Only Hindus are allowed inside the actual temples where there are bronze statues of several gods, the main ones being Siva and Ganesha and Parvati. Nathan has been captivated by the Ganesha (god of good luck) that has an elephant head. He purchased a silver Ganesha this afternoon at one of the bazaars near the Malaparone temple, look for it sitting atop his computer when he gets home.

The girls and I had a great time playing dress-up trying on saris. We each purchased beautiful ones today. It is amazing to see all the women wearing their brightly colored silk saris:barefoot inside temples, squatting in the market place, sitting side saddle on the back of scooters flying through traffic. The women are beautiful and the children are precious, with their little saris and jeweled anklets and earings. Most of the people are very friendly and would smile and wave hello to us.

It was fun to visit a flower and fruit marketplace today- street alleys packed with people, strands of hanging flowers, piles of mangoes, baskets of jasmine and marigolds and other sweet smelling flowers. Everywhere we went people wanted to take photos of the girls and their long blonde hair or have their picture taken with them.

In the afternoon we had lunch near the beach at Mahabalipuram and went down and put our toes in the Bay of Bengal. The water was warm and the beach was soft, long and wide- scattered with fishing boats. It was along here that the Tsunami hit and our guide told us wiped out the fishing villages and their boats. They have rebuilt, but many of the fishing towns are shanty towns and the government and others have donated boats to the fisherman, since they lost everything.

Mahabalipuram was very picturesque, a seaside temple, and several other neighboring temples that are around 1300 years old, carved out of stone in the 7th century. They were still very intact with detailed reliefs. Outside the temple we bargained at one of the bazaars and picked up a colorful patchwork tapestry and some trinkets, along with Nate's Ganesha.

We learned more about the caste system, the "untouchables," and the superstitions and beliefs of the Hindus and their beliefs in past lives lives- hoping to reach Nirvana one day. There were many beggars in the streets and aggressive people selling their trinkets at the market place. It is hard to not to be rude to those that are just trying to make a living or to not give to all those, especially the little children that beg. There is such an intensity in their eyes and even the dirtiest of the children have an almost haunting beauty.

Our first day in India has been a great experience. We got a feel for the marketplaces, temples and people of the city of Chennai- also known as Madras. Yes, like the fabric, which the men have wrapped around their waists like skirts. With the men and women in their colorful fabrics, the city was a collage of colors, smells, sights and sounds. We enjoyed our first day and feel that we have more of a background of the people's beliefs, customs and local history as we enter the colonies tomorrow.

On our way, Paris for a day

We arrived in the early afternoon and made the most of our layover. We immediately walked to Tuileries Gardens and had lunch and then strolled down to Notre-Dame and had a crepe at our favorite creperie, nutella and banana. After a nice walk in ideal weather, we came back to our hotel and had a nap- we are all very tired.

This evening we went to visit one of my good friends from Holton, Kim Gorland-Hirsch. It was great to see her home in Paris. She has done such a beautiful job converting part of a former school into a lovely, contemporary 4 story home. It was so nice to catch up and visit with her children too. (Juliette is pictured above with Kim)

We are heading to bed and then will catch our nonstop flight to Chennai tomorrow morning early.We arrive in Chennai after midnight tomorrow, so we hope to write about our day in Chennai on Sunday night. We are grateful for a layover to start our adjustment to the big time change. We are 8 hours ahead now and will be, I think, 12 hours ahead once we are in India. Good night, or good morning.