It was our first official full day at Rising Star Outreach today. The kids here are beautiful! They have such a heart for learning, and a large amount of respect that I feel is often lost in the U.S. The children who I am working with have parents who have been afflicted with Leprosy. With that knowledge, many of these children were raised in an environment where they were taught to beg and to be consistent with people until they give in. Rising Star Outreach has worked very hard to break the children of this habit.
It was explained to us today at our morning conclave, that the society of India rests on the idea that if a person learns English then, and only then, will they have a chance of being successful and not succumb to poverty. The idea that children who previously lived in a leprosy colony with their parents are now learning English is unheard of in this country. These kids know that, and when they are in school- they are focused and determined to understand what is being taught to them. The kids wake up in the morning at 6:00 to start their morning chores and to get ready for their schooling that starts at 9. It is so amazing to watch these children throughout the day, and how much they strive to learn an education, play as if they would never play again, and constantly ask questions to better understand life.
The children are extremely enthralled with my lip ring- which has made me somewhat of a "must see" because the children have never seen one before. The way that people from India say "Yes" is that they shake their head from side-to-side, much like the way in the US we would shake our head no. When the children ask to see my lip ring and have my show them the inside of my mouth, their heads are constantly shaking "yes/no. They also keep saying "Take Out?" I asked one of the older girls tonight what that meant, and if it was offensive to them or not. She laughed with a big smile and said that it was very beautiful and everyone loved it. They were saying "Take out" to see if I was able to take it our or not or if I kept it in throughout my day. They also wanted to know what it was like to eat with something in my lip during meals. And I am very thankful that I was able to get that cleared up.
I am so extremely thankful to be here right now. Between the girls that I am volunteering with, the children I am building relationships with, and to witness the extreme need that the children have (even though they do not realize it) is beyond me. These children are all still looking for sponsors, and I have never seen a program in real life where I am interacting with children who proudly pronounce who they are being sponsored by and the excitement they show as they draw pictures to send or even just a voiced "Thank you!" that they will shout out for anyone to hear that they have someone sponsoring them.
Tonight, Roz and I were hanging out with our family (We have families that we will spend evenings with, and Roz and I are paired with the boys aged 4-12). One of the boys had gotten a hold of an empty box that had the front cut out. He loudly pronounced that he was going to watch TV, where upon all the boys eagerly followed him,m carrying books and blankets. The oldest boy sat down and draped the blanket over part of the box- only leaving the part of the box without a side exposed. He then quietly put the book inside of the box, and announced that he was going to "start" the movie. These kids have never watched a Television before, and here right before my eyes, I witnessed the leader of the group concoct a makeshift TV, complete with the storybook inside that would serve as the "picture" being shown, It was priceless!
The "Squatters/ and the "showers"
Side note: I had taken these pictures and then went to spend some time with the kids pretty soon after. They LOVE cameras and love to look through pictures that the volunteers have already taken of America, and the plane ride to India, basically anything that they do not get to see in thier everyday lives. Well...they were going through my camera and saw that I had taken a picture of the squatter toilets and immediatly started laughing! They kept pointing and saying "Bathroom....Bathroom!" If they could only see the difference in the western style toilets and their "oh so familiar" squatters. 
