8/25: Ear Cancer!...false alarm.

Today was a phenomenal day! I got to do medical today but we went to a special needs orphanage for a couple hours before going to a colony. The whole focus of Rising Star is not only becoming leprosy focused but rather an emphasis on breaking the stigmas within India. Those with handicaps in India are cast out from society and abandoned by their families. It was heartbreaking to see. These people seriously had nothing. But they were so happy to have people come and pay attention to them for even just a couple short hours. We walked into the orphanage and all of the kid’s faces just lit up. I played games with some girls and then found some quieter girls in the corner to spend some time with. A sat by a girl named Jessie and had a two other angels on my right who I couldn’t get past the language barrier to find out their names. Jessie held my hand the whole remaining hour and half that we spent together. That simple gesture of love meant so much to her. I stood up to use the restroom and she was horrified that I was leaving. She was so precious. I reached over and touched one of the other really quiet girls that I was sitting by. Her face lit up and she just started giggling uncontrollably and was stroking my arm back and forth. I could tell that she wasn’t entirely ‘there’ but was so precious nonetheless. I felt my Father in Heaven’s immense love for these children and knew that He had a plan for them. It was so hard to leave them. Jessie was really upset. As soon as I stood up, she wouldn’t give me a hug. She couldn’t face the fact that it was time to say goodbye and that in a sense, someone she loved was abandoning her once again. It was probably the most heart wrenching experience of the whole trip.

I learned that it is so important to strive to connect God’s power in these situations. Doing so brings a greater strength and power in the bonding with these patients.

After visiting the orphanage, we went to one of the leprosy colonies to work with a few patients there. They were again incredible. I was able to take their blood pressure. It was a beautiful colony with so much foliage. The people there were wonderful as always. There was a man there with the most beautiful smile who had a gnarly ulcer. He cringed as he was being cleaned and treated. I can’t even imagine the pain. These people are so strong physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The light of Christ radiates from their faces. It has been such a privilege to work with them. We pulled water from their well before we left which was a really cool experience.

We had talent activities in the evening and I taught my girls how to make friendship bracelets. It turned more into me cutting their string and then they just went to town. They’re already so talented. They don’t need me. Ha, the girls really just love having supplies to work with for the next few weeks so I went home with no string. Ha they even took the box that it came in. I was really happy with it. My girls are so sweet.

After spending time with my girls, Maria, a nurse in our group specialized in ear wax removal started checking out my ears. She told me that my ear had polyps. That totally freaked me out. Ha, when someone has colon cancer, they get polyps in their colon. So, I thought I had cancer of the ear for a second. Maria explained to me that it was just a extra flap of skin. However, I do have tiny ear canals and my left ear has an infection. Woot! Sure beats cancer.