Marked as Different

In India, if you do not blog every single day...there is so much that people miss. Everyday is filled with some new experience- a new idea- or a new perspective on life. I cannot put enough emotion into how quickly life changes here. And how quickly things can happen.

This past week- We split up our group and 4 of us went and worked the Medical clinics with Dr. Kumar in the colonies. We switched mid week and those that had been doing the Medical clinics went to the schools to tutor in Math and English. Both experiences had a lot to teach us- about being humble, extremely patient, and realizing that these lives we are working with and visiting, is a constant state of life for those who live in the colony and also the homes of where the children of Rising Star live a few weeks out of the year.

Every single person at these colonies has an amazing story- one that I could probably make an entry out of every single member persons story- and each would make you take a step back from your own lives and evaluate what you consider to be life changing or worth spending time on.

Dr. Kumar refers to all of his patients as if they were his family, and the passion he tells their stories with is one that you often find yourself being even more humbled. One man, who was blind for 20 years due to cataracts was denied the opportunity of having the surgery because they did not want to have complications. Dr. Kumar is an amazing advocate, and knowing the only reason the man was denied the surgery was because of his diagnosis of Leprosy- he took him personally to the hospital and fought  and argued until the man was allowed permission to be operated on. After the surgery, the man has been declared as not blind- and at 70 years old has been given the opportunity to see his grandchildren for the first time and to see his wife, whom he says is even more beautiful than before he went blind. The man is also so thankful to Dr. Kumar. When I met him, he told me an entire story in Tamil, but was constantly pointing towards Dr. Kumar and nodding with an enormous smile.

Another man, whose leprosy had impacted the nerves in his bones was in extreme pain and went to the hospital. The hospital denied him, and sent him away. The man was compeltly distraught and tired of being consistently denied the rights of even being human. He called Dr. Kumar, extremely upset and he immediatly went to meet the man and help him. The man was finally allowed permission into the hospital where he had to have his leg amputated, but at least taken care of. Dr. Kumar was later informed by the man that he had called Dr. Kumar while he was near a train station- and had already decided that he was going to jump onto the tracks if Dr. Kumar did not answer his phone.  

At the medical clinics, we the volunteers, would switch off between taking blood pressure, testing blood sugars, and cleaning ulcers and the people's feet. The disease of leprosy affects the nerves, so many patients do not have any feeling- so you can push as hard as you want and the patient will barely feel your hand pushing on their arms or feet. The scary part though, is if the patient does have feeling- then the disease has spread to the nerves of the bone and it looks absolutely painful. Being the diabetic, I tested blood sugar at the first colony- but rotated through all the different areas and only helped with the testing if someone could not get any blood. The calluses on the patients are also extremely thick, so sometimes we would even need Dr. Kumar's help to find a suitable place. 

I did have to go to the bathroom at the colony one day- so a women took me back a pretty long ally that was lined with people sitting in their door frames. She took me into a house (translation: through a single room) and to an Indian back yard. She pointed to a line of bricks and then left me alone. I looked around- being familiar with squatters by now, I knew to look for something that was out of the norm when it came to toilets. But this back yard- no bigger than a bricked 5x5 had nothing that appeared like a squatter. I saw a fence- a line of bricks.. and then the rest was in-laid bricks. I literally stood staring at the fence for about 2 minutes- with the women sporadically walking out, pointing, speaking in Tamil and disappearing. I ended up walking out- utterly confused how that particular "bathroom" worked. The woman kept motioning and gesturing quickly before stopping and adopting a huge smile- shaking her head and escorted me back to the medical team. Dr. Kumar asked when I got back to test blood pressure if the bathroom was ok..I slowly explained that I honestly couldn't understand how it worked, but I would be strong and wait until we returned to Rising Star. That story also counted as my low for the day. Thank you India for your confusing toilets..

There is so much to explain- to elaborate on- and to almost use as an opportunity to inspire and teach others. Leprosy still exists in America- nearly 200 people a year are diagnosed. There is an antibiotic treatment for it though, and the treatment process lasts about 6 months.

There is an art school at one of the colonies, The Bindu art school, and a few of the board members have been trying to get the artists to be able to come to America for an exhibition,. These artists are denied visas because of their Leprosy. Their paintings are beautiful! We were supposed to go and see them, but that happened to be the day that I was in the hospital, so it has been post-poned until this upcoming week.   But these painters, who do not have fingers- make the most beautiful art I have seen in a long time. The beauty of the world that they have imagined without having the ability to be exposed to mountains, rivers, or fall leaves is amazing.

But still... they are marked as different and denied the dignity of their existence. I want to see this changed in my life time.