Time at the Boys Hostel

I spent more time with the boys than I did with the girls. My family was 20 boys, so those were the ones that I was able to get to know the best, as well as the older ones in Arthur John’s room. They have SO much personality! Veran (his name is longer, but I call him V) was at school one day and decided to impersonate me. I was at a medical clinic, but I saw pictures when I came back to campus. He had found a staple, and made his own lip ring and appeared to be very proud of himself. A few of the other boys attempted, and Ashook even showed me how hard he had pushed his staple together that it left a bloody imprint in his lip, which was followed by the request to get him one with I went to the junction (the village  shopping  shacks) that did not draw blood. I laughed with the boys as they beamed with imagination how else they could produce a lip ring with the materials that they had.

Christraj was a boy in my family that was only 5 years old. He was either EXTREMELY hyper and running around the room the whole time, OR he was beyond tired and would cry and whimper because someone had touched his hand. He was such a sweet boy though and he would draw out the way that he said “Yes” in a manner that I would constantly ask him a question requiring a “yes” reply. One night he brought me a piece of paper, and he was in his almost whiny stage, but still had a little bit of energy. After handing off the paper, I began to punch out holes for eyes and found some string in the boys room to use to hold his ‘super hero’ mask on. Even though it was almost bed time, he found the energy to zoom across the room and make all the other boys jealous of not owning their own super hero masks.

Deeven was so much fun! Always the life of the party, while still wanting to have serious conversations. He turned 13 while I was in India, and he is so caring and wanted to make sure everyone was always taken care of, talked to, as well as entertained by his presence. Leigh Anne had brought nail polish at my request so that I could paint my own toe nails, as well as paint the girls. Little did I know, the boys had as much obsession with nail polish as the girls. So many fun stories to tell about this experience! My sister had brought nail polish remover in a tub that had a sponge in it, so you would place your finger in the tub and rub your nail against the sponge and the nail polish would come off. The kids had never seen this kind of remover before, and they all thought it was a magic trick! To see their eyes light up was so fun! And every time they would have this eager expression of amazement and ask for more nail polish so they could do the magic trick.

So back to Deeven, this fun loving boy kept insisting to have his nails painted, so he could do the magic trick for his friends. We were sitting outside late one night, and it was a night that he had all attention on him and he could not stop laughing. He asked for the remover, which he could not remember the name and started calling it the “Doinke Doink.” Of course, I gave it to him. I told him I wanted to record his “magic trick” so he got very excited (I’ll try and post if I can figure out how to post a video). But the poor kid did not realize that the remover was liquid and he thought it was only a sponge with a little bit of moisture on it. At the end of his magic trick, he thought he would show that the bottle was empty- where he proceeded to pour all of the remover on himself! I did not capture all of it because I had pushed the button on the camera as soon as he started to pour it to stop him- but it was too late! :-D He then proceeded to tell us that he had done it on purpose. He wanted me to bring him more, because according to Deevan, It was the “new Indian Stink, very popular, you bring from America, I sell, and rich man. Everyone will  Love!” We were laughing so hard we were crying!

These two boys, Maudavin and Golkaraj, are really great friends! One day, Golkaraj was rough housing with another boy and somehow in all the pushing and shoving, Goklaraj was pushed down and he managed to land right on top of Maudavin's head with his tooth! Golkaraj chipped his front tooth, and Maudavin was immediately doctored up gauze and medicine for the huge gash on top of his forehead. They took this picture a few days after the accident, but they are still best friends and Maudavin's head has now healed up and there isn't even a scar! Maudavin as pretty excited to sport the band aids on his forehead for a week though! The simplicity of making someones day better by providing a hug and a band-aid!

Sponsorship

So before I came to India, I was still a little hesitant (as many people are) on places and companies that speak of sponsoring a child and how impacting in a child’s life it can be. Jeff and I had gone to church in May in Denton and Compassion was represented one night and had pictures of many children needing sponsors, and they explained what they could do with the money. I talked to the representative, with the idea of wanting to sponsor a child, but still being a little hesitant. If I was to supply money for an organization, I wanted to know if the child truly would know that I was supporting them, or if it was pooled and divided where needed. After talking with the woman for a while, Jeff and I left with the mindset that we would consider the idea of sponsorship and decide when we returned to the states how to approach the idea and as well as finding a means to fund the child.


This is where India unfolded its’ passionate embrace of how sponsoring a child reflects in a child’s life. At Rising Star, each child needs to have 3 sponsors to be considered fully funded. Which means, at $90 (Sponsors pay $30 a month), a child receives medical attention, schooling, meals, housing, school supplies, and many other necessities that play into the lives of these children. The children are so adorable also! I had never imagined the impact that a sponsor would play in the life of a child until my experience at Rising Star. On campus, you ask any child who their sponsors are, and they will quote back their names, how many children they have, describe pictures that they sponsor family has sent them, and any other information that the child has been shared with.

One day, I was walking from the volunteers hostel to the boys/girls hostel when I ran into Gogulraj. He was holding a picture in his hand and parading it around. He held it proudly above his head and said “Auntee Katie! I have a photo of sponsor! LOOK!!” He then began to go through the pictures, and showed me a picture that had been taken of him and Shawn Bradley, a picture with him and his sponsor, pictures of the sponsors family, and a letter that accompanied the photo’s. He beamed so brightly and the boys he was with started to try and feel included by describing their sponsors and/or telling stories that they had with their sponsors.

It truly does impact these children’s lives. It truly is something that they are aware of and desire a relationship with those that are funding their lives and education. It is such a sweet sight to see when a sponsor tells their child that they are contributing to that one child’s education.

In talking with Jeff sporadically throughout the summer, I expressed my ideas more about sponsoring a child. Between him and I, I was the one more hesitant in the beginning to go through with the idea of sponsoring a child. So Jeff was extremely supportive and said to just keep him informed of my decision on which child.

Being with so many kids at once, you quickly learn that the children have learned how to interact with the volunteers, and that those that are outgoing are more inclined to connect with the volunteers. It is a hard place to be, because of the language barrier, those that are more outgoing are often that way because they understand more English. Michael X. is a boy in my family, and from the first day that I was at Rising Star, I was intrigued with him. He is not normally involved with volunteers, he is fine keeping to himself and playing games with only his peers. I would often call him out on the playground when I first got to Rising Star, and his reply would always be a smile and then quickly running off to a different area of the playground. He is in 1st standard, and he would draw me pictures of peacocks, and mountains, and towards the end of my stay in India, he and I had a better understanding of one another. He spoke a lot more English that he would let on, and I loved watching his brain work as he would try and find words in English to describe what he was thinking in Tamil.

Carly, Derek, and I would sing the boys songs at night, and it worked really well to get them to stop running around and ready for bed. But towards the end of my stay in India, Michael would pace the floor, waiting for me to sit down and give him the opportunity to lay his head in my lap. He would be the director for which songs he wanted me to sing, and how many times he wanted me to sing them. One night he was telling me to sing “Mountain song 3 times,” as he held his hands up in the dark with 3 fingers reflecting in the moonlight, “and then Mango song, then sleep...ok Auntee...3 times?” The mountain song is “Over the mountain and the Seas,” which the boys had never heard before and always requested it after the first night that I sang it.

When I told Michael that I was going to be his sponsor, all he could do was protrude a huge smile, and then continue to find trinkets and items he wanted to give me as gifts. I kept trying to give them back, but he made me dice out of mud, drew about 3 more pictures, found a marble, and gave me 2 pictures of himself! These children rarely have photos, and this is something that they are not given very often, so what they hold as prized possessions are their pictures, earned toys, and trinkets that they find on the playground.

Talk with me if you are interested in sponsorship, or go to the rising star website. If you find someone you want to sponsor, and you want to know more about them than what the website shows- then just ask. www.risingstaroutreach.com

Mahendi is an erasable art that penetrates deep without words

Henna is something very common in India. It is such a fun experience to sit with someone, draw designs on their hands or feet and talk about life and the adventures that India has bestowed upon us. Henna is called Mahendi in India and it acts as such an adornment to woman that it brings beauty to them and expresses a type of fashion that is admired by all ages.


I have had the opportunity to either receive or provide the henna experience 3 times in India. Once with Carly who did an AMAZING job at drawing designs on my hand and arm. We spent about 3 hours one evening searching for designs, doctoring the mahendi that had already been placed and talking about life, our direction, and reflecting on our shared family nights in Ghandi Mati’s room.

A different time, Leigh Anne and I spent an entire afternoon in separate house mothers rooms, having our feet, hands, and forearms adorned with this magical paste. One of the house mothers is very direct and bold with her speech. My house mother had started a design while another one was consulted and quickly smacked her lips with a disapproving look (this is how Indian’s show that they do not support what is happening and now feel the obligation to see it changed). Kala quickly grabbed some water and instructed me to wash my hands off. She grabbed another house mother and together they looked through a design book and began to construct the most beautiful reflections of Indian designs. The kids, as well as Jason, kept me informed of how Leigh Anne was doing with her henna on the opposite side of the hostel and when we met back up, we both had to do some fun/awkward poses to show off the Indian’s art work.

The last was at a colony called Moote, where I had the privilege to draw impromptu designs on the 3 different woman that lived at Moote. Moote is a very unique colony. It was organized because those who had leprosy in certain parts of Chennai were exiled to nearly an hour into the rural areas of India. The colony was established in 1972 and there have not been any new additions to the colony but now the colony is made up of only 7 members. They are the most lively and healthy members though. Every time we visit Moote, the people make our days memorable. I will write more about the magic at Moote in a different entry. I had so much fun being there though and seeing the excitement of the ladies show off their hands. Saranraj does not have fingers, and she uses her palms to get around the colony, so I drew designs on her forearm instead. One of the women that had persistently kept asking for Henna to be done on her hands kept hitting her hand against her saree, other people, or merely forgetting to let the paste dry. Therefore many "Mahendi emergencies" occurred at Moote, but we managed to have it all work out and the women were so very excited to see the designs on their hands. When I had first pulled out the Mahendi tube and started a design on Saranraj’s forearm, another woman walked over to me and pointed with a huge smile and held her hands, offering a blank canvas for Indian designs of Mahendi. All I could do was smile and see the joy and excitement of the anticipation reflect on this woman’s face. 

Directions for Henna:
- apply paste to area in small areas so that it makes full  contact

- after allowing the design to dry for about 5-10 minutes, apply heavily sugared water
-let sit for 1-2 hours

-take off with coconut oil (NOT water)

 

Bindu Art School

The art school is such an encouraging place to visit! The colony that I am coordinating construction for is the Bharathapuram colony. It is the most developed and always so loving and inviting. I love the privilege that I have to be there everyday and to meet and engage with all of these sweet and beautiful people. Bharathapuram is a colony that has a barber shop, a small school for UKG students (kindergarten), a carpenter, a retirement home, and the Bindu Art School. The art school is a project of a man from Austria who provides the materials, the instruction, and the art teachers to teach the classes. The students are between the ages of 25-75 and before they create a piece, they are instructed to meditate for about 15 minutes to picture what they will draw, how, and what they want to express from the pictures.

All of the artists are leprosy affected, and all of the artists exhibit their own style. I love the days that we get to go to the art school and look through the never ending stacks of their expressive art. The special and unique aspect of the school, is that the painters paint from imagination. In the states, we have the Internet to see pictures and we have TV and often the ability to travel. These people do not have those luxuries (except everyone does have a TV.. its a reflection of the corruption found in the government. Someone running for an office promised a TV to anyone that voted for him- and they did, so everyone now owns a TV). The pictures of mysterious mountains, of nature with rivers and beaches, vibrant flowers, all of these are from their imagination. Some have had the luxury to travel, so they will describe and tell stories to the others who will draw and paint what they imagine it to be. Something unique about buying them at the school is that you get to take a picture with your artist after you purchase the work. It is always a special moment to put a face and personality with what you get to bring home with you.

The funds that are raised from the paintings goes back to the colony and its needs. The reason why we are building a community center is partly because of the funds raised from the art pieces being sold.I took my first group to the art school today, and I expounded upon what I knew of the art school, the peoples stories that I knew, and that one of the artists has a child at Rising Star. I let the group search through the stacks, while I explored deeper into the school. I found a man, who spoke decent English and he was asking me questions about America and how long I was able to stay in India. He said that he had seen me carrying bricks and cement to the houses and through the roads and how he was so appreciative of what we were doing. He is so very excited for the community center to be finished and provide a common meeting place for all of the colony members. He then grabbed my hand and brought it to his forehead while bowing and said that "God will bring many blessings for your work. You come, you build, and you still buy paintings. The money from the paintings helps build. And still you buy to bring home and we can live in America with you. You show us on your walls. God bless you..." I as so taken back by the mans gesture. This is a common way for Indians to 'give blessings' and appreciation, by putting your hand near their bowed forehead, but his words were ones I had not thought of.

We come to the colonies everyday to help and build. These people help by painting. We buy their paintings as well as help them to build. And this man was appreciative that we would tell others about him and his home by hanging these paintings onto our walls. How beautiful that all labor points back to the wholeness of a community.

Today one of the girls found a picture of a man who was painting a picture. One of the artists who is usually the translator because he understands the most english became very excited and said that this man paints the most beautiful pictures. Everyone loved him, and he passed away this year. So one of the artists drew a memorial picture of him. The artists who had passed away did not have fingers, he only had stubs for arms and he would fasten paint brushes to his wrists and create paintings that would reflect such Indian beauty. The man said that whoever bought the painting, needed to understand his story, so that it could be told as it hung on a wall.

Bindu Art School: http://www.bindu-art.at/

Crossing Borders to break down Walls

                                                        

Andhra Pradesh... Where to start... So Rising Star services about 12 colonies in the state of Tamil Nadu. Through research, talking, and going to leprosy affected meetings, Dr. Kumar and Padma have had hundreds and thousands of colonies brought to their attention that are needing medical help. Many have not seen doctors, and receive very little help and even attention for that matter. Dr. Kumar has been planning a trip to the state of Andhra Pradesh for nearly 1 1/2 years and this session that came in had just enough people for his plans to become a reality. The drive was 5 hours north and we had to cross into a new state (which is a FIRST for Rising Star) and we had our first encounter with the corruption of the Indian government. I am going to refer to a lot of 'laws' as rules, because these 'laws' change depending on who the person is and how much money is exchanged as to whether or not the rule is followed.


According to the state patrol, vehicles that cross the state line must show the original copy of their title and ownership.This r did not apply to rented vehicles and their drivers because they had some type of clearance Also, no more than 12 people are allowed to ride in a van, regardless of the amount of seats within the vehicle. We had exactly 24 people on our trip, including Dr. Kumar and our 2 drivers, so we were not worried about this rule. We had already rented a van (along with a new driver) to leave out from our small hidden village, but our 2nd van was driven by a Rising Star driver, and he did not hold the title to the vehicle. With this unexpected dilemma at the border we had to drive to the closest city and find a new vehicle to load into. Just so you know..it was AWESOME! :-) We are talking a pink giant party bus, with a tv, a random pole, flashing disco lights, and a shrine to 4 different hindu gods. It was impressive to say the the least. We had to also higher a bus driver, and on our way out of the city, he was honking to get a man to move out of the road. The man in the road kept mouthing off and starting to say things about the bus drivers mom (Dr. Kumar translated the event for us after). The bus driver jumps out of the party bus, punches the guy square in the face, shakes his hand out and mounts back onto his pink steed to drive us away.  We were all speechless and the only thing that broke the silence was Dr. Kumar's reaction of "This is why we love our Rising Star drivers."

We continued our drive, and were pulled over a few more times by the state police, once to see that Val, our bus driver who was no longer allowed to drive because we had to rent the party bus was told to get off because of too many people. It was funny to pull over, turn around and see Val standing on the side of the road for us to 'secretly' pick him back up again. So our anticipated 5 hour drive turned into a 9.5 hour drive to make it to our hotel. We were originally going to arrive at 9:00 am and make it to our first colony (that had 95 people) by 10, but we did not get to the city until nearly 2 in the afternoon with empty and hungry bellies. We were able to get some lunch, and I excitedly (or overly excitedly) ordered French Fries and an Ice cream cappucino.We then made it to our first colony and spent 5 hours solid testing blood sugars, blood pressure, cleaning/bandaging wounds and ulcers and meeting the people of these communities. 

The first colony was called Jyothi, situated in the thick of the green, mountain filled Tropical jungle with monkeys, and jaguars, complete with trees you could not even see through.  We heard stories of the jaguars, but we did not see any in the 5 hours that we were there. We were not sure how the people were going to react to seeing 20 white people who have become accustomed to loving and touching these people we so deeply care for. But as soon as we got off our respective vans, the peoples smiles were beaming and their hands were reaching out with such compassion and thankfulness. One of the men even went to their shaq store and brought out cokes and fantas for all of the volunteers. I did not drink any, but my favorite was the the closest one to coke that sported a "thumbs up" logo across its glass bottle. Near the end of our stay, the women brought us flowers and placed them in our hair. It is such a loving community to be able to live parts of our lives with! Since their was only 1 blood sugar kit, I was placed on the Diabetic testing with Laura Jane and Kenzi. Let me tell you, we got every single persons blood sugar there! Leprosy causes very thick calluses to form on peoples bodies, and often that place is on their hands, which makes testing blood sugars hard to do at times. We had a good system with my team though. I would check blood sugars with a straight needle, while another girl would use the pricker and we would share the meter between the two. We enjoyed our system, and Dr. Kumar was impressed that we tested every single persons blood sugar there, all 95. We found about 22 new Type 2 Diabetics and about 37 with hypertension.

Our 2nd colony we went to the next day was even larger than the 1st. This colony was in the slums in the middle of Tirupatia. Tirupatia has a VERY large temple in it that people will walk for weeks to come and just sleep on its steps. The temple has rituals of shaving off women's hair and we were not able to go, but it played a big party in the lives of those that lived within the cities borders.  At this new colony, we set up our clinic inside a building about 20 ftx12 ft, and managed to fit 23 volunteers, medical equipment, and waves of the 130 residents of the community. It is interesting how India works. In anything that happens that draws a crowd, whether that is riding a bus, a function, attending church, or even coming for treatment. Men always sit on the left side, and women always sit on the right. Families do not sit together, and women are assisted only by women or their spouse if he decides to do so. When we were setting up, a woman barely sitting on the steps next to her walker kept pointing towards me. When I sat down with her, she pointed to my feet and then to hers and spoke in Telegu (In Andhra Pradesh, they speak Telegu, not Tamil, so we had to have an interpreter for our Dr.). A man close by, pointed to my shoes (Chacos) and said that she wanted me to give them to her.


In Tamil Nadu, Padma has worked so hard with micro loans and teaching the colonies that they have means of making money and supporting themselves if they put in the effort to do so. Micro loans are provided to give them a start and this makes such a huge impact on the lives of those that are leprosy affected. In this new state that we were visiting, where we just broke through the border with a Dr. visit, these people have no understanding of how to support themselves other than begging. It is learned through generatians and it is done simply because it is what they have seen their parents do.  The line becomes where do people need help, and where does the help cause more problems. By giving shoes, it justifys the action of begging. By keeping, it leaves a woman who uses a walker barefoot around the streets of a slum. I kept my shoes, if you are wondering,  but it stayed with me and it is something that I am often reminding myself of.

" The line becomes...where do people need help, and where does the help cause more problems"

On our own in Chennai

We often travel through India in Rising Star vehicles driven by the Rising Star Drivers and with large groups (between 8-30) white people. Today, was a day of our own exploration. We were driven to the bus stop in Chingleput, our driver, Vamel found our right bus, gave us strict instructions on what we needed to do (women sit on the right side of the bus only) and gave us emergency contact information. He waved us off and we started our big adventure! The drive takes about an hour to get to the part of Chennai that we were needing to get to. And from that bus stop we had to find an Indian to help figure out what bus we needed to get on to make to the Spencer's plaza where the mall of Chennai is located. My camera died while we were there, so not very many pictures of the day. But the buses in India almost always have people hanging out of the door frames, holding onto the rail because the bus is so full.

There is no such thing as personal space in India. If you manage to get a sit, you spend the time getting bumped by bellies or I had a woman cuddle up next to me with your head on my shoulder and make use of it as a pillow. If your standing, you are constantly anticipating the screeching stops the drivers make. You will hear mixes of Tamil, Hindi, and English throughout the buses, or witness the long streams of lifeless stares that is most common on the bus as people zone out for their bus ride and just endure the journey to their destination.

We always managed to find someone to talk to, that would often be accompanied by that man personally walking us to where we were needing directions to go to. That is something that I love about Tamil Nadu. The nicest people live here. Literally.

The state of Tamil Nadu is known for having the kindest and most giving people. In India the way that people are greeted, is that you say your hellos and the next question is "Have you eaten?" The assumption is that if you have eaten then you must be good and feeling in good health. If you have not eaten, then something is not right and the initiator takes it upon themselves to prepare a meal and to dine together.

Much of our day was spent shopping, bartering, and being helped to our next locations. On one of our street walks, Kacy saw a man that reads palms, which we had talked on the bus about wanting to get done! She and I immediately jumped on the idea and it was worth the rs. 60 we paid! 

 He looked at my hand and he described past events that had happened (he talked specifically about experiencing a change in my family life) and described that my dads side of the family was very large and influential and very close with one another (True!). He talked about how I was independent and did not follow others in their directions, but I make my own path through out life. He also said in regards to marriage, it is something that does not act as a door in my life (meaning it is not absolutely open or absolutely closed), but more as a window that is open in my life and that If I find it, then it will be my own choice to pursue. He laughed explaining that it mimics my personality of not following a direct path but still creating my own. He also said that I would have a governmental type of job involving :commuting" (this specific word was hard with the translation) that I will work at until I am 60. I will have 2 boys and 1 girl. I will die soon after I turn 90 and at that time I would have 5 grandchildren. The sun is the planet that I follow, and my lucky #'s are 1 and 5 but #9 is not lucky for me.      

We were able to go shopping at FabIndia, the very popular store in India that is popular, especially among the volunteers! It is like an Indian version of a Pottery Barn mixed with an cheap Indian Anthropology. They have lighting and home furnishings, as well as jewelry, chitigars, pants, and salwars! The manager spoke English, so she actually set us up with a rickshaw that could drive us to a grocery store, and a store we had heard about from some friends. We were amazed when we got to our new location! A part of Chennai that no one knew existed! We are used to the trash filled streets, followed with piles of sand, skin and bone cows and sarees beautifully decorating the woman. Here we found trees, and sidewalks, a store that was indoors with back lighting to her jewelry. A massage parlour, and an outdoor restaurant complete with mood lighting and... COFFEE! :-) The restaurant had watermelon soup, feta cheese, the people all eating were dressed in western clothes and western modest skirts with hair flowing down their shoulders! We all sat down and were amazed that this side of Chennai even existed.

I imagine I feel very similar to a person of royalty who is always having things done for them and having someone available to transaction and translate for them. But today we had the opportunity to leave that net of safety, to travel 2 hours north to the largest city in Tamil Nadu, experience the bus routes, bargain, find food on our own, and manage to make it back to Chingleput where our Rising Star driver was gladly waiting for us to take us back home.

Session 4 day 1: Adventures in Construction

Today is the first full day of session 4. The new team has arrived and as small as our last group (the tight knit group of 7) was, this has been an interesting change of pace. We welcomed in 16 new girl volunteers, 2 guys, and a family of 4. It is fun to be able to watch them form their perspectives of India and to see how they view their vast difference of the India culture to that of the quick pace in America. I think it is an honorable thing to be able to watch a person's view of life suddenly change and take into account how different lifestyles are lived and yet still accepted.

I am a person who does not like sudden drastic changes, yet at the exact same time, after the change has occurred, I am often thankful for where the experience takes me. I was asked to become a coordinator for this session, and I happily accepted the offer. With that being said, I am now the "Coordinator of Construction" and will be able to take teams out throughout the week to different colonies and to help build a community center at one colony, and perhaps bathroom's at another. Jennie at first was going to go with me and help on my first day as a coordinator (the person in charge) but she ended up getting sick this morning and I went out as the leader of a team solo. I had anticipated that I might have started off by myself and I honestly did not have any worries or concerns with how the first day started.

Each volunteer groups are split into different teams, 1. Medical, 2. Tutoring, & 3. Construction. The team members will stay the same throughout the session, but their jobs will vary from day to day. So today I had team Shakti, which is Tamil for Power. And power they had! It was so amazing to work with the group and to get to know them, all the while throwing bricks from a 6.5 ft. stack and moving it to where the builders could finish cementing the bricks and build them into an outer wall for the community center. We took fun action shots (the workers kept insisting that we throw the bricks to save time) and even though we were hesitant to throw at first- we developed an awesome system that got the job done while also being fun amusement for the Indian's.

We also had a man approach us while we were working at the colony, and I knew by the way that he dressed and the manor that he held himself that he was a visitor to the colony. I approached him, with the Tamil greeting of "Vanakum" with my fingers touching one another in the shape of a house directly below my chin. This is the manor that you greet someone with much respect and an encouragement of welcome. He quickly started to spout out English words that he knew and pointed to the sun exclaiming " Tamil Tamil Tamil Sun hot Tamil Tamil Tamil" **Tamil are words in their language that I have no clue what they mean)** I called a water break after listening to him talk for a few minutes, attempting to understand his explanation that the sun was hot and the shade was better and it was a good time for rest. As we walked to the car to get our water bottles, a group of about 19 men and women dressed in very crisp red Saree's and mens tunics walked off the streets and towards this new man (who had explained he was a d river of a VW whitebug that he kept pointing to). A man dressed in red approached us who spoke English farely well and explained to me that they were from a Tamil Temple 65- Km away. They came to the colony to help and to bring blankets and pillows to those affected with leprosy.

The red dressed temple people beamed with excitement and wanted to express that they had helped and that they were people with good intentions. This act was huge for them. Bigger than I think anyone can imagine coming from this culture. The Hindu caste system is the one that declares those affected with  leprosy as being untouchables. But to have one temple working to make a difference for those lives is amazing.

The world changes everyday. People change everyday. Life brings new perspectives and new opportunities everyday to make a person's life different.

The constant thought here at Rising Star and in India is:

Did I do enough to make the change that needs to be seen by others that can cause a ripple big enough for the world to change.

Everyday, we are reminded with an enthusiastic "YES." We touch those who are untouchables, we work for and under the direction of a community in need, and we teach as well as love children who were raised as beggar's, never expected to advance in life.