New Saris and More Snakes!

Holly found new sari material on our shopping trip to Punducherry. These wraps take about 12 yards of material and are SO inexpensive, it is mind boggling. I think this one cost ten US dollars.
She added Jasmine flowers to her hair, which is what most of the Indian women do.



John with the cobra he found behind the volunteers' living quarters.
(I REALLY hope I am able to fly out of here before I find one myself!!)

Badalampurum

Patients arriving for care at Badalampurum colony. Notice how neat and clean everyone is and how beautiful the saris are on these women! This is a colony that RSO has been helping for a long time. The people have had the benefits of micro loans and many own their own small businesses. Helping these people was a totally different experience than at some other, "younger" colonies. A few of the men here helped us unload the van when we arrived and then reload it at the end....even though many were missing most or all of their hands. They felt useful and helpful! Such a great thing!



One of our sweet and beautiful RSO nurses, Charmilla, dispensing meds to the patients.



The room we had to use was not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. The flash from the camera gives the illusion that there was adequate light. There wasn't. The only light we had was from the two doorways. The bulbs in the ceiling were so inadequate, I looked up at one point to see if we even had electricity and regretted doing that, seeing a plethora of dirt caught in old cobwebs over my head. The floor was filthy and I was distressed to watch patients set their clean, washed feet down on that dirt and hobbled between chairs for further treatment. I spoke to Dr. Susan afterward and she agreed it is an issue we need to address.



Holly and me waiting for patients to arrive at our foot washing stations.



Melissa applies Neem oil to a patient's foot so the dead tissue can be somewhat softened for the debridement process.



Navimani, the debridement nurse, dresses a small wound on an abdomen; a very rare location for leprosy.



This patient was intelligent and sweet. His English was very good. As he sat down at my station to get his bandage removed, he said, "Just a moment. I will say a prayer to God to thank you for being here to help me." Then he put his deformed hands together in front of his chest and prayed out loud. It was incredible to see this act of humble gratitude. I felt like saying, "Sir, it is I who should pray to God for the strength to ever become as courageous and awesome and humble as you are!"

Punduchery

Eight of us volunteers went into a town called, Punduchery, on the Bay of Bengal. There were some pretty good shopping areas, and we found a nice bakery/restaurant where we ate lunch.

Holly and I posing by the sea. We were blessed with a slight breeze and cloud cover, making it merely EXTREMELY hot and muggy instead of UNBEARABLY hot and muggy. :)



Here we are by a memorial to Gandhi.



This little lady is, from what we have been able to observe, the only trash collector in India. She has a pretty big task in front of her. She may need a little larger trash bin. :)



Typical sidewalk scene. It's impossible to fully describe. If only I could "post" the smell as well.



But there is beauty over our heads! Holly examines a pod on a tropical tree we found there.

The Snake

India would not be India without it's snakes.

Last night we were walking over to the student hostels after dinner to do some tutoring and we saw the guard, standing outside the door of the guard house, whacking something with a big long stick. We froze and watched for a minute then yelled, "Snake?" and he said, "YES!" We saw him bring the snake out of the guard house and when it was on the ground, beat the crap out of it.

We decided to keep walking to the hostel because it looked like he had things under control and he was safe.

Later we learned that it was a Krait snake which is also dubbed "The Two Step" because a victim can take about two steps before the venom kills him. Jim Gates, the RSO Exec Director, shows us the dead Krait so we can identify this beast in any situation.

Divali Day!

We all tried to dress in our Indian "Sunday Best" clothes for this famous festival of lights. The school did a fireworks display for the students and it was pretty exciting! There were a couple of special high bursts that got applause. For those who don't know the origin of this holiday, here's a little blurb on it:

The Philosophy
Whatever the story, Divali is a very special occasion for Hindus throughout the world. The many ceremonies signify one's journey and the qualities that should be fostered for Self-enlightenment. One is reminded to wake up from the slumber of ignorance and to pursue knowledge. As light dispels darkness, so should knowledge dispel ignorance. Through learning, man is expected to advance to the stage of enlightenment in which he realizes that God is the Light of lights, and that God brings warmth, love and illumination to all beings and therefore there can be no light greater than God. The aim of Divali celebrations is to get man moving on the spiritual path and ultimately attain illumination by becoming one with God. As they light the lamps in their houses, those celebrating Divali are reminded to light the lamps of wisdom, goodness and God-consciousness in themselves. It is through this, that they can attain the "Light of Lights" - God.


Students gather to watch the fireworks.


One of the staff members holding a Roman Candle. Super dangerous. Welcome to India!


Here I am posing with three cute students, one whose name I know. It's SUPER difficult for me to remember their names.


Melissa, Venillimarie, Holly and Ann in their special attire. Venillimarie is LDS and works here at RSO as a "House Mother" in one of the boy's rooms.


Vel, our driver, and Holly in her lovely sari! She had it made for her in a village we shopped in last Saturday.


The kids loved splashing around in the HUGE puddle of rain water in the front yard after the fireworks. The event was PURE chaos. Very, very Indian!



One of the students wanted me to video her and show her the video on my camera. I was fine with that, but when she then tried to grab my camera and run and show others, I had to nix her enthusiasm of becoming the next Bollywood Star.

One on One

Our assignments today were to help the children with their letters to their sponsors.
It was fun to see the different levels of ability in writing!

Our Very Special Day!

We left Rising Star at 8:00 a.m. with Diana Carlson, Jim and Pam Gates and Becky Douglas and headed into Chennai to go to Church. Here's a photo of Holly and Diana looking very lovely in their Indian attire.

Here we are leaving the building after services. The Branch meets in the basement of an office building.


We had the rare privilege of having lunch with Padma Venkataraman, the daughter of former President of India, Ramaswamy Venkataraman. Google her to learn more about her many accomplishments.
Padma could have lived a pampered life but she has chosen to work with the leprosy afflicted, along side Becky. These are women of virtue, wisdom and compassion.
Front row: Holly, Becky Douglas, Padma. Back Row: Charles, me, Diana Carlson, Pam Gates, Jim Gates

A view of Chennai from the Marriott Hotel where we had lunch. Gosh, the city actually looks clean from this distance!! Trust me....it's not.

Our Day Off!

The RSO Volunteers gather before our shopping trip to Malallampuram.


At "Butter Ball Rock" in Malallampuram




We saw a troop of monkeys at this same park!





We encountered gentle cows and not so gentle street "hawkers." A very different shopping experience. Holly has a sari being made for her and I have some cotton outfits being made. We'll see if they fit when we pick them up. :)

A Typical Day at Rising Star

We live in the "Chris and Jessica Harrison Center" fondly dubbed, "The Elephant House" because we have a cute statue of an elephant outside and it is WAY easier to say, "Elephant House."




Inside our room.


We share a kitchen with all the other volunteers. It is supplied with bread, butter, eggs, milk and fruit which we can use for our breakfast. We pack our own lunches to take on the road (if we are in the mobile medical unit)



Each morning, we have a short meeting together to discuss the day's schedule.


If we are assigned to the medical unit, we gather to leave for the colonies.


Each day we have different tasks. Today Charles & Holly manned the BP station and I cut off bandages and washed feet.



Each evening, we eat dinner on the roof with other volunteers.



After dinner, we each take a turn sharing one of our high moments and one of our low moments from our day. It is a really neat time for everyone.

At night, before we shower, we women go to the laundry room and choose a fresh outfit for the next day!



Some of the volunteers show up to morning meeting looking SO CUTE! They find matching pants and tops. So far, I have been lucky to find anything that really feels cool enough (IT IS SOOOOOO HOT AND MUGGY HERE!) so I skip fashion for comfort with the result being tacky attire. Today I opted to wear my own western clothes because they felt cooler.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we were given the opportunity to help "de-louse" the kids; girls last night and boys tonight. It consisted of rubbing lice shampoo into each child's hair and scalp thoroughly and then they sleep with their heads wrapped in towels and wash it out in the morning. Some of the girls had hair down to their waist! It took bottles and bottles of the stuff to get through that thick hair!

Afterward, I felt kind of lousy (snort snort) and spent a lot longer in the shower than usual! SUCH ADVENTURES! :)

Rising Star Outreach----India

From being served like royalty on the Viking Cruise Ship, to serving the poorest of the poor....the leprosy afflicted of India....all in one week's time! It's quiet a jump in experiences, but wonderful.


There was no training, per se, and very little warning. It was, "Hey, welcome to Rising Star Outreach! Tomorrow we are all going out to the Leper Colonies to do foot care! You'll love it!"

So, off we went. It was humbling beyond measure to see the strength with which those afflicted with Leprosy endure their trials. One man's plight, in particular, broke our hearts. It involved MUCH dead tissue as well as maggots. The volunteers were so brave....but no one as brave as the man himself.

Below, Charles applies oil to what was left of the man's ankles and feet. Those of us who had direct contact with patients wore double gloves and a surgical mask since it is really not known how leprosy is transmitted.

Holly tries to comfort the man during the painful process of washing.

Holly helps the medics on the foot washing line.

Charles was assigned to put oil on the washed feet and trim toe nails.

I was stationed to take blood pressures and measure blood sugars.

My job was SO simple compared to Charles's and Holly's and the other Foot Care crew! I watched them perform their duties with such compassion and grace.



It was heartwarming as we loaded the van and prepared to leave that the patients smiled, waved, and honored us with the traditional Hindi prayer position of the hands. Some...actually many...using only the stumps of their wrists, since leprosy had taken their hands long ago. How can any of us complain or whine about anything ever again??