Today was an all-around great day.
We are now split into groups of about 5 students and 1 professor. My group went to an orphanage/school for children who were found begging and from homes around the school.
We arrived at the Olalur Childrens Home and instantly the kids swarmed us. They were so cute and I'll never get over how instantly they love me. I'm not used to being so popular!
We got to work and gave each child a pretty thorough physical exam. It took about 2 hours to get through all the kids and then we had a few minutes to be with the kids. One little girl was dumb and deaf and I never learned her name but she just kept clinging to me. I don't know her life story but she just wanted to be held and loved. I almost think that these kids wait for visitors like us to come just to be hugged and loved since the culture here does not allow for very much physical touch.
It was hard to leave those kids so soon after meeting them but we needed to move on to the next place.
We drove back to Rising Star and had a ten minute "bathroom run and grab some food" break and then it was back to the vans.
We went to some leprosy housing and passed out dinners to each of them and just walked around getting to know the people.
One lady was married with two daughters when she found a spot if skin with no sensation. She knew if people saw her with signs of leprosy no one would marry her daughters so she came to this housing development. It spread to various parts of her body but by that point she had severally damaged her hands due to the lack of sensation. This is how these leprosy afflicted people have so many wounds. They can't feel how hot something is or how sharp something they step on is so it injures them and they don't notice. No treatment is given so it becomes infected. Serious injuries result in lost fingers and toes or entire limbs. Leprosy affects every part of these peoples lives and to hear first hand about this mothers sacrifice puts this disease in a new light.
Karen, my professor, found a kindred spirit in this woman who is a grandmother of 6 - she called her 'sister'
At one point Karen got so excited about how many grandkids this woman had that she frightened this bashful woman. She hid behind me for quite awhile.
While at this colony a giant turkey kept attacking me. Not cool.
We came back to rising star and the children are finally here! School starts next week so they are all arriving.
Play time was awesome! Trying to learn these names is difficult but I did make a few friends. Nageesh and Subustri sat talked with me for awhile and have made me promise to play with them tomorrow. Nageesh is on the right and Suba is on the left. Suba is a ball of energy while Nageesh is very mature and cute and quiet.
We ate dinner and then we went to de-louse the entire school. We put a lotion on their heads and wrapped them up so it would stay on all night. This is to kill any bugs they may have brought from home. It was fun for the kids to have more interaction with us and be pampered ( to make this a little more fun for the kids we made it a spa like experience with 'head massages').
It was a great day in India and I'm excited for tomorrow! I can't wait to play with the kids again tomorrow and I'm so glad they are finally here!
We are now split into groups of about 5 students and 1 professor. My group went to an orphanage/school for children who were found begging and from homes around the school.
We arrived at the Olalur Childrens Home and instantly the kids swarmed us. They were so cute and I'll never get over how instantly they love me. I'm not used to being so popular!
We got to work and gave each child a pretty thorough physical exam. It took about 2 hours to get through all the kids and then we had a few minutes to be with the kids. One little girl was dumb and deaf and I never learned her name but she just kept clinging to me. I don't know her life story but she just wanted to be held and loved. I almost think that these kids wait for visitors like us to come just to be hugged and loved since the culture here does not allow for very much physical touch.
It was hard to leave those kids so soon after meeting them but we needed to move on to the next place.
We drove back to Rising Star and had a ten minute "bathroom run and grab some food" break and then it was back to the vans.
We went to some leprosy housing and passed out dinners to each of them and just walked around getting to know the people.
One lady was married with two daughters when she found a spot if skin with no sensation. She knew if people saw her with signs of leprosy no one would marry her daughters so she came to this housing development. It spread to various parts of her body but by that point she had severally damaged her hands due to the lack of sensation. This is how these leprosy afflicted people have so many wounds. They can't feel how hot something is or how sharp something they step on is so it injures them and they don't notice. No treatment is given so it becomes infected. Serious injuries result in lost fingers and toes or entire limbs. Leprosy affects every part of these peoples lives and to hear first hand about this mothers sacrifice puts this disease in a new light.
Karen, my professor, found a kindred spirit in this woman who is a grandmother of 6 - she called her 'sister'
At one point Karen got so excited about how many grandkids this woman had that she frightened this bashful woman. She hid behind me for quite awhile.
While at this colony a giant turkey kept attacking me. Not cool.
We came back to rising star and the children are finally here! School starts next week so they are all arriving.
Play time was awesome! Trying to learn these names is difficult but I did make a few friends. Nageesh and Subustri sat talked with me for awhile and have made me promise to play with them tomorrow. Nageesh is on the right and Suba is on the left. Suba is a ball of energy while Nageesh is very mature and cute and quiet.
We ate dinner and then we went to de-louse the entire school. We put a lotion on their heads and wrapped them up so it would stay on all night. This is to kill any bugs they may have brought from home. It was fun for the kids to have more interaction with us and be pampered ( to make this a little more fun for the kids we made it a spa like experience with 'head massages').
It was a great day in India and I'm excited for tomorrow! I can't wait to play with the kids again tomorrow and I'm so glad they are finally here!
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