8/30: Continual Learning

Although I have returned from India, I will continually be learning from what these wonderful people have taught me. I will continue to record my insights that I may never forget this amazing experience that I've been blessed with.
As I am still recoveriong from jet lag, I woke up at 4:00 this morning and my thoughts were turned to India. Here are just a couple insights I gained:
I consider the leprosy patients who are full of joy, love, and humility. I consider their immense pain, not only physically, but emotionally, socially etc. Why do they have such joy when they have every reason to sorrow and have pity for their external condition? While their focus should naturally be cast inward, they manage to do the exact opposite. They have immense love and gratitude for the people who are coming to help. They value the joy and happiness of others more than for themselves. This is service. What I've done is minimal in comparison to the love and prayers they have offerred in my behalf. As we work with them and are causing pain to their sore feet, they can do nothing but love us for the fact that we are there with them. It's not so much our actions, but our presence that touches them. It is the building of relationships and love shown. Their heart melts as I kiss their hands. I have learned the importance of being with the one. Service is about who I am rather than what I am doing. These leprosy patients are the perfect example of that.
Next, I consider the children. They have come from homes of abandonment, disease, poverty, and heartache. They have come to Rising Star in hopes for a brighter future. They have incredible gratitude for this blessing of a solid education. They desire to take this blessing and shift it upon the lives of others and who they hope to be able to serve in their future because of the education. Little do they know that they are already shifting the blessings upon every person they come into contact with as they fully and unconditionally love their peers and volunteers. As they look into my eyes, it's as if they're saying, "You've changed my life" but then I consider the fact that I am a mere 'one' of hundreds of volunteers who have felt a similar love from these children. They are fully aware that my visit is short and still give everything inch of love that they have to me and to the other volunteers. This makes the departure all the more bitter, yet all the more sweet. They have taught me how I ought to love.

I will strive to love selflessly, considering the joy and happiness of my brother before my own. I pray that I will be able to give every fiber of being of love to the Lord and in effect, to my fellow men.

8/26: I left my heart in India

Today, I got to tutor the blessed children! It was fun Friday, which was seriously a relief. We played bingo and around the world. It was really refreshing, especially because children who struggled so much with focusing on the work, became excited to do the task at hand. I really enjoyed it. The kids were yelling bingo and singing the bingo song while we played. They also became so excited when they finished each math problem. Who ever knew learning could be so much fun? Haha. Sathya stole my water bottle during break J Such a little teaser. I just love her so much.

After tutoring, we all went back to the hostel to paint our session wall. We decided to paint a lotus and it was a great experience. The members of our session became really close to each other.

Becca put on a saree…it was ridiculous. Then she unraveled and did a strip show for Lyndee and me. It was fabulous.

I went to play time and all the girl’s were dressed up to go to Saraswathy’s party for her marriage. The kids looked absolutely beautiful. Little did I know that this would be the last time that I had to spend with my beloved Rutish.

After seeing the kids all lined up we ran back to the hostel for dinner. We reflected on things that we learned throughout the trip. Many people spoke about the love of the children, the examples of the fellow volunteers, and the hope in a brighter future because of the experience. I spoke about the difference in serving and serving at the side of God. As I wrestled and began to humble myself throughout the experience, my service was far more meaningful and profoundly based.

After dinner we went to watch Life Dance. They are incredible, especially considering their lacking experience. After their performances, we did a dance off. The kids are seriously incredible dancers. It was so much fun.

We ran to family time after that ended and it just wasn’t the same. I was in absolute denial that we were leaving and this was the last night with them. I sat with the girls on the floor for a little while. Sang a few hymns to them for the last time. Some of them were in the process of making bracelets for us. They are so loving and willing to give all they have to bring joy into the lives of others. I then ran over to Rutish’s family house and gave him a big hug goodbye. That was rough. I seriously love that kid so much. His smile brightens anyone’s day. When he runs, he kicks his legs up really high and keeps his arms straight flinging them back and forth. It’s adorable. Ha, it kills me. He would always see me from a distance and strategically place himself somewhere so that I would run into him right away. Then he would just stand there with a huge grin on his face and I would run up and grab him yelling, Rutish! He would cling to me as we walked around. He is the most beautiful and loving little boy. He’s so sweet. I already miss him.

Anyway, after saying goodbye to him, I went back to Saraswathy’s house to spend a few last minutes with Sathya. The whole day she kept telling me that she would be my sponsor. I kept saying “No Sathya! I’m the last person who needs a sponsor!” Haha she’s so funny. Anyway, she gave me a sack with so many gifts that I know meant a lot to her. It was so sweet of her. She wrote me the funniest and sweetest letter with a piece of her hair taped to it. So funny. Then she said, “Kelsey. I will be your sponsor, we will write all the time…I love you my sponsor child.” I laughed so hard at that. I was just so happy that I couldn’t cry. She’s so sweet and I just love her to death. She is so loving and caring of others and just the biggest tease. She gave me her Rising Star T-shirt, a gorgeous homemade bracelet, her keychain, and colored pencils. She’s so amazing. I gave her a huge hug and said good night. I went out to the main room where most of the girls sleep on the hard cement floor. I kissed all their hands and they kissed mine. I broke down. It was so tender. I love my girls so much and they have taught me a great deal. It was a great last day. I will strive to keep the spirit of love within my heart as I go back home to Idaho. I will look for the one and strive to release the joy within those I come in contact with as I have learned to do here in India.

I love you all and thank you for following my blog J

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.

We are such a success.

My highlight for the day was at family time with a few of my girls. We went into one of the back rooms and they were just so happy and loving tonight. Nagesh was giving me a hug as were Ramia and Anita. I told Ramia and Anita to join us to do a group hug. While we were hugging, we lost our balance and tumbled to the ground. We laid there and just laughed and laughed. They wanted to reenact it. It was hilarious.
I was assigned to construction and got to paint the latrines. It was awesome. Ha Kim 2 (our coordinator for construction) was wiping the paint off our bodies the whole time so we wouldn't break out in rashes. She was super sweet. She mentioned something about Lyndee failing miserably and I turned around and said, "Lyndee, you are SUCH a success." And that has just become our little inside joke. Seriously? Who says that. We just laughed the whole time we were painting. It was a blast. Uncle Phil was belting it while he listened to his ipod. Ya. He's nuts. It was great. We then went over to the art school to purchase paintings that the leprosy afflicted have painted. They were beautiful. I just love those people. They were so happy that they were buying some of their art.
We came home and I completely crashed on my bed until play time. I am still SO tired, but so happy :) Heavenly Father has been answering my prayers and has been helping me grow through this experience. I am so grateful to have His hand through this experience.
We had a great dinner and Lyndee shared a thought about being at peace with our fellow men. Then of course went to family time. I spun the girls around and realized that my stomach and head are much weaker than I thought. Haha, Sathya was upset today about something. So every time I tried to spend time with her she tended to shoo me away. But I got to grow closer to some of the other girls so I'm really grateful for that.
I just love it here. It's coming to a close but am so excited to be able to reflect on the experiences I've had and learn even more from that.

Will you be my Sponsor?

I AM IN LOVE WITH RUTIHSH! (Pictured above) Holy moly, cutest little boy ever. Before I dive into my experiences through the day I must first expound on this. We had a little gathering with all the kids and volunteers during free time as a little goodbye to the coordinators and stuff. Anyway, as soon as I started looking for Ruthish he appeared out of nowhere and flashed his movie star smile. Ha my heart just melts every time I see him. I told him that his smile makes me so happy and brightens my day. After that, he wouldn’t stop smiling. J Later on, when I was playing with him, he came up and asked, “Will you be my sponsor?” Ah! That little boy! I yelled, “Of course I’ll be your sponsor!” Haha I felt like I was being proposed to. It was so precious. He was so sad that he only has two sponsors and I’m so happy to be his sponsor so I can keep updated on his life. He is just my favorite little boy ever!

Anyway, I got to do education today. It’s hard to stay motivated when the kids aren’t really all that motivated either. However, I was given some real champs who stuck it out and finished their assignments. One girl named Kavia, went way above and beyond. I was giving her three digit division problems and she was asking for ten digit division problems! She got the answers all right and I was so proud of her. We became good friends through our experience.

Education is probably the hardest for me. I love kids but I just don’t have as much patience as I would like when it comes to tutoring them. Hence, I am not an education major. I admire Lyndee a lot for that. P.S. she’s been so amazing on this trip. She is so loving toward the patients that we work with and the kids just really love her, as do I! We’ve had a good time together.

This morning, the girls from room Stork went around writing nicknames for each of us on our doors. I was given the nickname Sunshine and Lyndee got the nickname Super Dope. Anyway, I was talking to Maria, one of the girls from Stork and she was just complimenting me up the wazoo. She told me that I was so loving and just a ray of sunshine. Haha…India has done some crazy things to me apparently. Ha, it was so sweet of her though and made my day.

I walked through the school before play time and saw Kylie singing primary songs with some of the girls. Related to that, my house mother was drawing henna on my foot tonight and while I was with her, I could hear a girl singing “I am a Child of God” alone in the other room. Just some major highlights.

I pretty much just spent all day with the lovely children. Ha Chrisraj stole my water bottle and started drinking out of it. He’s so funny. I always ask him how he’s doing and says, “I’m fine! I’m fine! Are you fine?” Haha, I just love these kids so stinkin much. Leaving here is going to be super heart wrenching.

I spent a lot of time with Sathya today. Our highlight together was probably when she read a book to me on her bed all snuggled up against me. It was some great bonding time that we shared.

I had some good laughs with my roommates today and had a few bonding moments with other members in our group. I talked to Micah on the way home from getting Perota just about the culture of San Francisco and about his life and so forth.

It has again been a very happy day!

8/22 The day at Chetty Parnyum

Today was wonderful. I went to Chetty Parnyum to work with the leprosy patients. We told life stories on the way there. I have a great deal of respect for these wonderful people that I serve with. They're such great examples.We arrived at the colony and I was immediately embraced in the love of the people. Maria hugged each of us. I was introduced to another woman whose name has slipped me but my heart ached for her. She was in a great deal of pain and I felt so helpless. She could hardly walk and it hurt her to eat. We helped her lie down and as Lyndee and Halee left, I kissed her hands and could see the light that filled her eyes. She was so tender. I then went over to help set up the medical needs for the patients. Oh and I got to go to the restroom in the dirt. I felt pretty hard core. Haha, anyway we were set up and I was taught how to wrap the patients ulcers with the bandages. I felt very inadequate but very grateful to have some help. The patient's love is simply incredible. They are all so grateful and bring healing to the soul. I only wish that I could bring healing to their infirmities. I thought of the incredible miracle it was when Christ healed the lepers. Oh the joy they must have felt. I was most touched by my last patient, Lukewanti. She's pictured here on the right. Because my station was one of the final one's, everyone was packing all the medical equipment while I finished wrapping her foot. After I finished I kissed hands, saying namaste (meaning I can see divinity within you). She laid her hands on my head and prayed for me. She then collapsed at my feet and we embraced for about a minute. I was in shambles as you can see from this lovely picture. We walked back together hand in hand to get washed up. She is so beautiful.

After getting home and taking a quick snooze we headed over to play time with the kids. I went over to play time. Chrisraj came running full speed into my arms. He's such a neat kid. I held him for a long time as he laid his head on my shoulder. I was also embraced by Ruthish, Vicky, and Ranjeet. They're just the neatest, most loving boys. We played telephone for a little while, hide and go seek, and then played Mother may I. Ruthish's smile gets to me every time. I just love that kid! Sathya called me over while I was playing with them looking very blue. I went over to try to comfort her but she was silent and didn't want to talk to me. I felt helpless and wasn't sure how to help. I don't think I've been spending as much time with her as she would like so I'll step it up. There are just so many kids and it's hard to make everyone happy.

Some of the older kids here have seminary every day. I went with them for about ten minutes before dinner. These kid's testimonies are so strong and their motives are so pure. They have no outside pressure to go to seminary and read their scriptures other than their love for the Savior. It was amazing.

On the way to family time I had a really nice conversation with Halee, my roommate, who is just incredible. She is the sweetest girl who is so good at looking out for the one. We talked about the pure love of Christ that is within each of the patient's that we work with.

At family time, we had the girls write things about each other in order to put up a little bio for those who are interested in sponsoring them. They loved being able to write nice things about each other. Sathya still seemed upset with me but as I wrote down nice things about her, she started softening up. We spent time together throughout the evening and I enjoyed the time we spent. As I left Sathya's room to leave for the night, I came out and our house mother was crying along with many of the girls. She has lived with these girls for a year and a half and is getting married in a week. She doesn't even want to get married to him and is so distraught about leaving these beautiful children who she has cherished as her own. The girls are also so torn apart about it as she has become their mother in the past while. It was heart wrenching. Two men from the program came in to give her a blessing. It was really touching and I just love the spirit that is here. It is so calming and so full of love.

8/21 3 Nephi 18:20;24

I was so blessed to be able to go to church today. We saw an elephant in the back of truck on the way there. To the right is a picture of the baptismal font in the church. A new church is currently being built in Chennai. The building currently is not very...church like to say the least. However, the spirit was so strong in the meeting. I am very grateful that I stayed home from the New Dehli trip for this reason alone. This Sabbath day has been phenomenal. I was asked to lead the music during Sacrament Meeting. Our first song was "How Great Thou Art". That song in kind of a night mare to lead so I just waved my hand around. Ha, but the others went smoothly. I was blessed to have that opportunity. The talks were phenomenal. The church is the same wherever you go. The members have such strength here. They spoke a great deal concerning missionary work. My Sunday School Teacher was very knowledgeable young woman. I was also asked to teach sharing time with Lyndee. We taught about the Word of Wisdom. I think the kids enjoyed it. We sang primary songs and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. We visited with the members for a little while afterward. The churchwas about two hours away so the whole ordeal was about 8 hours. However, it was so worth it. To the right is the ward librarian :) He was so great.

I've been struggling with some of my wonderful prideful weaknesses and it has really hindered me in several aspects of my service. I was blessed with a great deal of alone time after church. I was able to go on the roof of our hostel and just sit alone for awhile...I've just been yearning for some alone time so I was very grateful. I also read and pondered prior to that in my bedroom. I prayed earnestly for humility and realignment of desire and motives. I felt as though my service was disconnected from the power of the Lord. In church I felt prompted to seek to be a conduit of God's love and light so that it may penetrate the heart of the children. I also recognized that the Lord is teaching me how to deal with trial in a new way. Rather than isolating myself and becoming very reserved throughout trial, He is teaching me how to find healing through serving. I really didn't expect these internal struggles when I came out here, but I am learning to be grateful for these experiences. I read 3 Nephi 17 and 18 today and was so focused on the Father's love for His children. After reading I wrote in some memory books about the kids that I'm working with and realized that the love I have for these beautiful children is so pure and full. My heart began to be softened. As I read 3 Nephi 18:20 and 24, I felt that I had received a direct answer to my prayers. They say, "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you...Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up--that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed." I knew that the Lord was pleased with my desires and I had been forgiven for some of the weaknesses that had been overwhelming for a short time. Also, my prompting I had received at church was confirmed, that I should be the means whereby the Lord's light is made manifest.

The picture above is of a boy named Chrisraj. He attacked me with a water balloon the other day. Love him :) he's such a spaz.

The coolest part about this experience is the three-fold nature of it. I gained knowledge and understanding. Then I had the opportunity thereafter to exercise what I had learned. I spent time with the kids at dinner and with my individual family after that. I went to dinner with my heart full but the girls were surprisingly very quiet and somewhat unresponsive. I took it as an opportunity to spend some :) one on one time with some of the girls I didn't know as well. It was a really sweet experience and realized how hard it is for them to have left their families. But they also recognize the huge opportunities they have through this program. One girl I spoke with today hopes to become a nurse and because of this program, it's possible whereas otherwise, she would be confined to her leprosy colony and cast out from society. These kids are amazing and are so intelligent. After dinner I spent a lot of time with the boys in the cafeteria. One boy, Stephen came up to me and told me all about his life. His Mom is one of the house mothers here and he's a member of the church. He's awesome. I chilled with Ruthish for a little bit and just hung out with all the other boys. They're so much fun. "Aunty! What is your name?!" Ha I just love them. Oh! And Basha :) The boy I struggled with the other day at tutoring still loves me even though we had a rough time. He came up to me smiled and I exclaimed, "Bashsa! How are you my friend?" He embraced me. That warmed my heart. Especially since I thought he hated me.
(The boy on the right is my little lover Ruthish. I can't remember the other boys name) :(
My heart was so happy. Then I went to my family's house about an hour and a half before bed time. I got to talk to Ramia and Brianca. They're both so adorable. They were telling me about their families and they both said, "Our Father's drink" and talked about all the drinking in India. I told them that many Americans drink and they were horrified. Brianca said, "No! I don' t believe!" Ah it was so precious. I said that the Americans that come to Rising Star are all very good people as many Americans are but not all. They were seriously heart broken. America is just the pure dream land to them.
After spending time with them I laid down by the younger girls who were going to sleep. I sang hymns to them for about 45 minutes. They make me so happy. While they all started going to sleep, Nagash grabbed my hand, Maryiambe put hers on top of it while my arm was across Nishanti and Ramia held my other hand. I felt very loved. I'm beginning to understand the commandment to become like little children. I got up about 10 minutes before 9 to say goodnight to the other girls. They were sad I was leaving. I hugged them all goodbye and Sathya gave me a kiss. I've never felt so loved in my life! It's so great! So as I've exercised what I learned, in one night, I feel as though I've become more like my Savior. Again, three fold in one night. The Lord loves these children so much and I am so blessed to be able to work with them. It is a sanctifying experience for sure.

Oh I forgot to mention that I picked coconuts with Lyndee and Devin today as the pictures shows. It was sweet. I love getting to know the people I'm serving with. They all have really neat backgrounds. India is bliss :)

8/19-8/20: "Super Dope" Weekend

Just a quick update for yesterday, most of the group has left for New Dehli and I've stayed behind. I tutored the kids yesterday which was a lot of fun. I worked with a boy named Basha who tested me quite a bit though. He refused to do his work and just sat there entirely zoned out. He wouldn't make eye contact with me or anything. I was encouraging him and trying to push him along but he wouldn't budge. So we botched the assignment and we read a story together. It turned out to be a great time and was a good learning experience for me.

I'm learning a great deal while here in India and I know the Lord is caring so much for me and is testing me in ways that will help me to grow stronger. The challenge of course is uphold a positive and happy attitude throughout. But of course, there is so much joy around as soon as I take a moment to slow down.

I've come to realize the extreme importance of being in the moment and appreciating every moment here. It's crucial. I get lost so easily in my own little world and miss everything that's happening around me. I think that's why I was struggling so much yesterday and this morning. But I went and got a back massage today at the beach, ha first ever!, and was able to refocus everything as I meditated a bit. Then I reread a talk tonight by President Eyring called the gift of giving and it's a super talk. That helped me refocus quite a bit too and to realign my motives. I learned that by striving to feel and understand the children, giving freely with no hesitation or drudgery, and considering the sacrifice made to be a bargain in comparison to the joy that will be recieved, I will be able to give to these kids the greatest gifts of love. It's definitely a process of casting out the natural man that I am learning every day. That aspect is far harder than I imagined. However, it is very beneficial and is a wonderful setting to help me learn more fully as to how I can be more aware of others.

Yesterday at play time, I got to play with a bat and soocer ball with Ranjeet. He's adorable. We had a really great time. Then I played hide and seek with Sathya and Ranjeet and a zillion other kids ended up joining. The kids just find some of the things I do absolutely hilarious. We ran behind the school which is basically quiet wilderness so I was a little afraid of the potential wildlife that I could run into. We ran over by the dumpster. I heard a loud animal noise, screamed, and ran. The kids came running after me in laughter exclaiming, "Aunty aunty! It was a goat!" Haha, all the kids got a huge kick out of it. I'll admit, it was pretty funny. I had a blast with the kids.

Today! We had a relaxing and super fun day at Mallalapuram, a tourist town and the beach at the bay of Bengal. The beach was gorgeous and the people were that sold to us were really friendly. One of the men was hitting on Lyndee. She and I left the store before our other friends and he said, "You tell your friend to come back ya? I think we can work something out?"

Anyway, we picked up so many neat things while we went shopping. It was a blast. We haggled a ton and got some pretty good deals. I just really enjoyed talking to the people. There were a few beggars who my heart went out to. While I was there, my foot swept through a nice pile of cow dung. I just laughed and laughed and took a picture. When we were looking at our pictures. Lyndee exclaimed, "Kelsey Schaat!" Pretty funny.

The indian ocean is super warm compared to the oceans. I didn't spend much time in the ocean though because I didn't have my swimsuit. Lame. But I got wet enough and enjoyed the sand...then went and got a super cheap back massage as mentioned. It was more like a back rub and would have rather just spent more time on the ocean. But, it was great nonetheless. We had a great time.

So one of the volunteers, Devin, who is awesome. He is constantly saying dope. Ha one of the volunteers said, "What isn't dope to Devin". Ha then we started talking about the kids at the school. They're always saying super! Your hair so super. Your eyes are so super. Your smile is so super. So we started all saying super dope in an Indian accent. It was way funny.

We came back and I went to movie night. I was slightly late but got spend time with Sathya. She's a truly beautiful girl. She said she was going to come to church with me tomorrow. I asked her if she was a member but said that she was Hindu. However, she's been attending the LDS church for years now just about every week. She said that she just has more to understand as I would assume it to be very different from the Hindu religion. She's also still very young and I don't know that she feels a great deal of pressure to convert. All in due time. I'm glad that she enjoys going to church and is willing to accept new truths.

Anyway, it's been a great day. I'm grateful for the insights and peace that the Lord has granted. I'm so blessed.

I love you all!

8/18 Take Out the Music and the Trash!

The second photo is my group that I serve with every day! Go group scorpion! The Indian man on the right is a leprosy patient who helped us and was along our side the whole time we were serving. We're not really posing but natural shots are the best.

Today I went to the Vandalur leprosy colony to pick up trash which was EVERYWHERE! It was awesome to have so much to do but seriously, we didn’t even dent it in the two hours that we spent there. We dove right in with our gloves and a member in my group, we call him Uncle Phil, cautioned us to use the pokers that we had been given because of the disease that could easily be picked up in the colony. That totally freaked me out. Ha, so I used my little poker and had a dandy time. One of the leprosy patients helped by holding open the trash bags for us. That really touched me. A mother came around with her little boy. She handed him over to me and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I really enjoyed myself. Another young boy grabbed some pokers and helped us out. It was just so awesome how happy they were for us to be there and their complete willingness to help. Again, they just seem so happy and content with life despite the incredibly rough circumstance. It’s a really beautiful thing. I’ve discovered this lifestyle to be my ultimate niche. I am so content. It’s a different feeling than I had expected. I was anticipating like a crazy high of sorts but rather, it’s just a very calm and happy peace to be immersed in this work.

During our break, I had some bonding time with the other volunteers and they did splits on the bunk beds and climbed on the ceiling. Ha, uh they’re ridiculously crazy. I love them.

After break, I headed over to play time. A little boy ran up to me with something behind his back and threatened to throw it at me. I screamed like a little girl because I thought it was a snake. Luckily it was just a water balloon so I just got nice and wet. I went on the playground and was attacked by Sathish, Rhutish…and another little boy. Ha I was flipping them around my back. Rhutish picked a flower and gave it to me. All the other boys did too. Ha I felt very loved. Rhutish stuck by me for awhile with arms wrapped around my wasted as we walked around. He’s such a sweet kid. Some of them are just so angelic. Others are…well. Ha we won’t go there.

I went with my friend Sathya to watch her sing in the choir and played hide and seek after that.

After dinner I went to my family’s house and we did a craft together. We made puppets! They liked having the supplies more than anything else. They value the smallest things that they’re given, even a little pipe cleaner. After crafts, I sang hymns to the girls to help them fall asleep and told the story, Cinderella to one of my girls. I gave her a hug after and told her that she was so special. She looked at me with the purest eyes. That melted my heart. My love for the children really grew tonight. I look forward to spending free time with them every day.

This picture is from yesterday...I couldn't figure out the picture attachment at the time. I'm working with my dear friend Sahtish here.