At 515 this morning we loaded the vans and were off for a two day adventure.
I was in the back of the van where there the A/C doesn't get to you and I was sitting on the bench sideways... not good for motion sickness. Eventually I got adjusted to the movement and settled in for the long drive. We drove up passed these beautiful mountains (mountains if you are from the east but hills if you are from the west) with big boulders and tons of palm trees. We get to the bottom of this one mountain and stop right on the side of the freeway. There was a dirt path up into this village that was both too steep and too narrow for the vans so we made an assembly line all the way up this winding path to the clinic and started unloading the van.
Everything was done until we realized we needed to bring up some chairs. By this time everyone had ventured up to the clinic except me and Karen. I gave two to her and took four myself and started up the hill.
The clinic had been set up and everyone had a job so I took the job outside at the desk. I wrote down people's names who needed wristbelts. Wrist belts is a tool for those without fingers that enables them to hold things and protects their hands. I would screen the patients before entering and see how many fingers they had still intact. I also handed out shoes to those that were screened from past visits. Rising Star had taken down measurements from a previous trip here and had leather shoes made to protect these people's feet.
Leprosy amazes me. It is such a simple disease yet it causes so much destruction. There is an easy fix if caught fast enough and even if nerve damage does occur simple precautions would erase almost all of the side effects that people quickly identify with Leprosy. Precautions are essential so Rising Star tries to protect as many people as possible by providing shoes and feet covers, wrist belts, and education. These small and inexpensive things protect these people from digit and limb loss, ulcers, and infections. I'm glad I was able to see this step of the process in caring for these poor people.
Although this was an interesting job, it was out in the sunlight... I had to wear my sunglasses to protect my vision and looked like a crazy person the whole day. It might look lame on pictures and be strange to those that don't know my eye situation but it is better to wear sunglasses than to not be able to see and be in incredible pain.
There was a large park in front of the dam with this water feature dedicated to the Goddess of Love.
We spent a good deal of time on top of the dam because it was beautiful and the air was clean. It did not smell of garbage and urine so we all wanted to take in as much as possible.
I was in the back of the van where there the A/C doesn't get to you and I was sitting on the bench sideways... not good for motion sickness. Eventually I got adjusted to the movement and settled in for the long drive. We drove up passed these beautiful mountains (mountains if you are from the east but hills if you are from the west) with big boulders and tons of palm trees. We get to the bottom of this one mountain and stop right on the side of the freeway. There was a dirt path up into this village that was both too steep and too narrow for the vans so we made an assembly line all the way up this winding path to the clinic and started unloading the van.
This was the beautiful view from the top of the hill where the clinic was set up
Everything was done until we realized we needed to bring up some chairs. By this time everyone had ventured up to the clinic except me and Karen. I gave two to her and took four myself and started up the hill.
The clinic had been set up and everyone had a job so I took the job outside at the desk. I wrote down people's names who needed wristbelts. Wrist belts is a tool for those without fingers that enables them to hold things and protects their hands. I would screen the patients before entering and see how many fingers they had still intact. I also handed out shoes to those that were screened from past visits. Rising Star had taken down measurements from a previous trip here and had leather shoes made to protect these people's feet.
Although this was an interesting job, it was out in the sunlight... I had to wear my sunglasses to protect my vision and looked like a crazy person the whole day. It might look lame on pictures and be strange to those that don't know my eye situation but it is better to wear sunglasses than to not be able to see and be in incredible pain.
When the patient line slowed down I went inside to give my fellow students some extra practice in taking my blood... we decided against it because the needle supply was running low.
After we were done at the colony we packed up with the help of the villagers and lots of the colony's kids. They all wanted to thank us and this was their way of doing it. They walked up and down that hill with their new shoes and bandaged limbs to help us. That is just the kind of people that Rising Star helps. They are not looking for handouts. They are not begging in the streets. They do what they can and appreciate the medical help when they can get it.
We drove to a dam. At first we were all a little skeptical when Dr. Susan said that was our activity for the afternoon, but I am so glad we went. It was a little oasis.
I tried to take a picture without my glasses on... FAILURE
We may have done some yoga poses....
We found a playground as well and had some fun on a spinning thing that I think should be on every american playground.
After the Dam we continued on to the hotel where we ate an early dinner - we tend to have two meals a day here: late breakfast of Dosa and early lunch with spicy curry.
Today we ate at the hotel restaurant and it was fantastic. We had a fried rice kind of thing that had no spice so we filled up on that and naan. .... we may have poured all the extra into a bag under the table so that we could eat it later..
After dinner we went to an Exhibition - translation: a FAIR!!
There were little shops and vendors and carnival rides. We went on the dragon boat ride that was super sketchy. The man cranked the machine to start and stop us... pretty scary but a blast!
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The biggest drink at the carnival was sugar cane squeezed into a cup with some lime juice. It tasted like sugar water with a very strong plant/dirt taste. Not too bad and really interesting to watch them make.
We also got cotton candy for 15 Rupees or 30 cents! I love how cheap everything is here!
We went back to the hotel, did some homework, and went to sleep. It was another awesome day in India!
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