Rising Star

So I realized I haven't exactly explained what Rising Star is so here is the summary:

Rising Star was started just ten years ago.  It has a three-fold mission:  Education, Medical Care, and Micro-Business Grants.

Education:  Leprosy colonies are all over India and Rising Star takes some of the children from these colonies and puts them into the boarding school where we are staying.  They teach all grades Kindergarten through 10th 'standard' or grade.  In India 11th and 12th are very specialized and their future careers are pretty much decided so this school does not have enough specialized teachers or subjects to fit this curriculum need yet.  These families are given a grant to go to school that these families pay off throughout that year and then the money they pay is then put toward the next year's grant and it continues this way.  From my understanding the amount they have to pay is not that much in american dollars but to these very poor families it is enough to be a sacrifice.  Rising Star does not believe in handouts.  They want to teach these children and families to work for what they get because leprosy is infamous for producing beggars.  I have heard that these children are receiving a better education than any children in India and are already being sought after for colleges and jobs.  These children are at this school for 320 days of the year.  They are separated into 'families' (small groups of about 20 boys or 20 girls) with House Moms.  Boys and Girls are separated in many things they do to respect Indian culture. There are about 270 students here at the school and classes start next Monday.  They are amazing kids that are so unique from each other and so funny!  SO Funny!  The older kids know English pretty well and that is the goal.  English = better jobs and opportunities.  They are doing everything possible to create well-rounded, healthy, and hardworking kids.  Some examples of this: they have changed all their rice from white to red rice because it is healthier and India has a serious problem with Type 2 Diabetes due to the mass amount of starch/sugar they consume from rice.  They also have the Life Dance Team which has won awards/performed around India while teaching these kids life lessons through dance and a lot of hard work.
Each student needs about 3 sponsors to fund their entire education and many kids who are here need more sponsors.

Medical Care:  This is the part I am mostly involved with.  Rising Star goes out to Leprosy colonies and finds new cases and treats them with antibiotics- effectively curing them of Leprosy.  They continue to go back to these colonies at least monthly to dress wounds and check up on the patients.  They have said while we are at colonies that they have seen a vast improvement in the wounds they have treated.  They are healing extremely well.  Another focus is preventative care which includes a lot of footwear to protect their de-sensitized feet from getting further wounds.

Micro-Business Grants:  This is the part I know the least amount about because we have no contact with it.  From what I understand, all of the colonies have a type of board of directors and Rising Star grants them money (loans become very difficult to do in India because of strict laws and Rising Star doesn't want to be a bank).  With this money the board decides who would best utilize the money to benefit the colony and start businesses within it.  Beyond this, I have no idea but I hope to learn more about what types of outcomes have occurred because of these loans and how the people apply for them.

Volunteers come in different sessions pretty much year-round and are involved in tutoring, construction and service projects, along with medical service trips.  All volunteers stay in The Elephant House on campus.  Our group is doing very different things than the usual volunteers because Dr. Susan (one of the top leaders of Rising Star) is utilizing us to the fullest because we have medical backgrounds.  She is having us do a lot of assessments that only medical personnel can do so we travel a lot to new colonies and schools.

Rising Star has a strong connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (I'm pretty sure).  Each of the Directors, the President, and many of the House Moms and employees are LDS.  It is not a religious organization but each meeting starts with a prayer and each Sunday a few vans take people to the LDS church a couple of hours away.  (side note: David Archuleta came here and is a huge promoter of Rising Star)

So that is Rising Star in a short summary.  It is an amazing organization from what I have seen and heard.  I'm very grateful I have been able to be a part of it for this short time.  These children are amazing, their families are so humble, and the employees and volunteers are incredibly devoted to this great cause. 

Rising Star: Day 6: Church

Today was church! We went to the brand new church building in Chennai - a 2 hour drive. It is a beautiful building and it looks very out of place in the dirty, noisy city.

Today the first stake was organized in India and I think Elder Holland was the one coming but I'm not sure.

In sacrament meeting a new member was confirmed and two woman were being baptized after church. This growth is amazing. It was strange for me to hear Indians speak of Christ. I am used to seeing Hindu gods all over, not paintings of The Last Supper. I am used to seeing men wearing dirty clothes and no shoes, not suits and ties. It was a comforting change and it filled me with joy.

Prosalating is against the law here so any growth is through members taking action and referring to missionaries. Three families were gone today because they had traveled to Hong Kong to be sealed in the temple. Hong Kong! These members are so devoted and powerfully faithful.

A man gave a talk today who started an orphanage as 20 yr old and is now a doctor. The talk was about family values: fhe ,prayer , scripture study, communication, love, and encouragement. He also used The Family Proclamation to talk about husbands and wives being equal partners and how men are to work hard to support their family - an interesting topic from a cultural standpoint.

It was a great talk and it could have been given in any American ward. The Gospel is the same wherever you go and the needs if the people are often very similar, no matter the language or culture. Family is a core doctrine and this man did a great job of laying down the foundation stones of a faithful family.

Throughout the day the theme was faithful individuals = happy families = wards grow= more stakes= temple in India one day. That is their main focus and goal and I believe they will acheive that sooner rather than later just based on the faith I saw today from a few of the members.

Relief society was fantastic! A woman gave the lesson about the Book of Mormon and why it is important to us. Inspiration is universal, we all have the right to receive it. This woman was inspired to teach this topic and it was powerfully done. I am continually impressed with the woman of India. The ones I met today were smart women. Women work hard here! Im not sure if I have mentioned this before but the women are always working! They are always carrying something, getting water, cooking, sweeping with their bundle of sticks/palm fronds, taking care of kids, or leading the cows. The men are always standing around the city just relaxing next to a little shop their friend owns. It is quite confusing. I haven't figured out what they do all day.

Anyway, the Relief Society President have a beautiful testimony at the end and said, "Pray for us, that we may have a temple in India. Visit often and enjoy the blessings of the temple because it is so close to you."

It makes me wonder how many times I take for granted having a temple two miles from my apartment in Provo. They desire the blessings of a temple so badly and I hope their growth will continue and a temple will be announced.
Another thing i thougt about were the Hymns. Many were about saints/pioneers and i thought about how odd it is that those were all the ones we sang but then I thought about it more. These people are pioneers in this country. They ate laying the foundation of the church in this nation. They are incredible people for sure.

We got home around 230 with nothing to do. It was hot today. 111 degrees!!! Without the humidity factored in. I felt the heat today more than I ever have because I was bored and didn't have anything to distract me.

Dinner was great tonight! We had chicken and fruit and cucumbers! Most meals consist of rice, a flat bread and potato something.. Starch starch and starch. It is starting to really gross me out so having those things (along with rice of course) made me so happy. I didn't take a single grain of rice because I just wanted fresh things and meat. So good and not too spicy tonight!

It was a good day although brutally hot. My eyes are still a bit infected/irritated but hopefully the drops will help. The group I am with is awesome and I'm having so much fun with them. Great people, great professors, and great opportunities!

Rising Star: Day 5: Beach Day!

We got to sleep in today after our long trip so we left at 8 for BEACH DAY!!!

We drove to Mammalapurram and shopped for about an hour. As you drive closure to the city you begin to see more and more stone carvers at work. This city's "theme" or main enterprise is stone working. It is amazing to watch. These men are extremely talented although I think creativity is lacking quite a bit. They make things that sell and you can find pretty much the exact items in every store you go to. We found a really nice young guy carving outside his shop on an off road who was selling at much lower prices. The group bought a ton from him. I usually pick the shop keeper before I even consider looking because I don't trust 90% of them. This guy was great so I was willing to give him some business.

This city is also famous for the ruins of temples and the balancing stone. Pretty cool to see.

We then went to Ideal Beach Resort and got a day pass. The beach was a great rest after the crazy busy week and we spent the afternoon body surfing and eating pizza. . Well, as close to pizza as we could get around here. It was good but you can still taste some Indian flavors in there somewhere.

It was a chill day and a much needed break.

Rising Star: Day 4: Indian Safari

We woke up really early so that we could start the long drive to the middle of the jungle and up a mountain. 445am we loaded the vans and started the drive. I tried to sleep like everyone else but I'm a pretty light sleeper and the roads are pretty rough here for the most part. I mostly sat and watched India start the day.
It constantly makes me sad that this country is so beautiful and so mismanaged. A clean water system and a waste management program would do wonders. The garbage is unbelievable here. It is everywhere. At this point it is just what they know, a habit learned at childhood. Trash belongs anywhere you want it to. For how progressive India can be, it is surprising that this is still a huge problem. Both London and India have a common theme of new and old colliding and coexisting. It makes for some beautiful cities but it also can delay a progressive mindset that is often needed in our changing world.

Ok, so we drive until about 930 and stop for some breakfast. Everyone here eats Dosa for breakfast. It is a large, unsweetened crepe that you dip in some spicy sauces. Everything is spicy here. Even breakfast crepes. It is alright food but the spice is starting to upset me both physically and a little emotionally. Some girls even bought ice cream after breakfast just for some sweetness. It surprises me how emotional something like food can get just after a week. We all are longing for fries and a cheeseburger. Meat is something we crave and miss dearly because we never see it, especially hamburger. Cows are sacred here so if beef is being served it was roadkill, no one would purposefully kill a cow to eat.

Back on the road until around 1130. We drive into a wild jungle area and we begin seeing huge ditches and piles of dirt along the road. These are elephant blockades. Wild elephants! The jungle was extremely dense in places but in others spots you could see obvious paths where something BIG had walked through. We all had our eyes peeled for any sight of elephants but we didn't see any unfortunately. I did see in the distance a small bear-like animal running but I'm not sure what it was.

We got to a point in the mountain where there was a small hospital. We stopped here and changed into Jeeps. Our vans may be super but they couldn't handle the steep incline we were about to attempt. The jeep ride was awesome! Just like a jungle safari but India style. Our drivers name Ragu and he turned on his great Indian music to set the mood for us. We had so much fun bouncing around the back of that jeep, climbing steep hills along steep drops and always searching for elephants.

After about thirty minutes we got to the Kalokara tribal village. Breathtaking. Farming was being done everywhere and neat little homes had been built. Cows roam everywhere in India and are sickly skinny, here it was no different. Children played in little ponds and woman were drawing water from the big well in the center of the village. It was as picturesque as it could get.

 We set up a clinic and got to work. We screened and assessed, and the doctors saw 80 people in about 2 hours! We were working hard. Mostly antacids, cough medicine, and antibiotic ointment were given out along with some antibiotics.

The children were everywhere and so cute! Bri had the job of keeping them occupied while we screened their parents and baby siblings. They loved her and flocked to her like crazy! It was pretty adorable. After we packed up and were getting in the jeep, all kids came to the back door and wanted us all to give them handshakes. We are like celebrities to them, they are a loving people and welcome everyone and anyone.
When we came down the mountain back to the hospital, they had lunch waiting for us. I often wonder how Americans treat guests and foreigners. These people give their very best to us, everywhere we go. I'm very impressed with that. We have done nothing to deserve their hospitality but they give it freely. Perhaps we all need to be a little more giving and loving.

We packed up and drove home. All six hours. Lunch didn't sit well with me and I didn't eat much and the bumpy mountain/jungle road didn't help. I didn't get sick but I was close, it made for a long ride.
I am now showered and clean, I ate some cereal, my medicine isn't making me sick, and I have a fan. Life is good. It was another long but great day!

Rising Star: Day 3: hospital overnighter

 
 Today we woke up and loaded the vans at 615am. We drove for only three hours this time to the Scheiffer institute, a private hospital that treats leprosy patients. We all did some wound dressing changes on the patients. This would have been easy, if it had been in the US because we know how we do it. Here there are different instruments and routines for doing it so we had nursing students from this hospital help us along the way. It was fun to see these students and how they are learning. A group of the girls was giggling and laughing at me and I didn't know why until one had the courage to come talk to me. They said I looked like someone and they got too shy to tell me who. The women here i noticed get embarrassed and shy very quickly and go silent or run away. It's pretty cute, it's almost like having a shy 12 yr old in a grown womans body. In this case they were 18 year olds so it is even more expected.

So we cleaned wounds and ate lunch. Then we had a lecture from a couple of the hospital's doctors about leprosy. It is fascinating to hear about the stages of this disease and how to treat it.

A few notes: leprosy is a bacterial infection. It is spread airborne and by droplet contact. It is easily treated with antibiotics but any nerve damage done can not be fixed so it is important to find it fast and seek treatment but the stigma around it slows people from coming forth with it. Leprosy hospitals are few and far between but are essential to helping end this stigma (this hospital for example sends people back to their original homes and acts as if it is like any other infection- which it is). These hospitals don't receive funding bc it is said that leprosy is no longer a problem although this hospital has 20 new cases a month coming to them. Just a few facts.

After the lectures we went to a small group of leprosy afflicted individuals and met them. They requested a few songs so we sang I am a child of God, Lead Kindly Light, How great Thou art, and I need Thee every hour. Those kind and gentle people have such sweet and pure spirits. The Spirit was so strong and I kept thinking about how everyone, everywhere is a child of God. He loves those people. The name of this small village is Shanti Village. Shanti means Peace, I think that fits very well. These people will be made whole one day. I know that for sure.

We are staying the night at the hospital guest house and it's not as nice as The Elephant House (the volunteer quarters at Rising Star) but it's just fine. We got ice cream after dinner so all is well with the world. Tomorrow we have s long way to go so we are starting to drive at 5 am. Should be another great day in India!

Rising Star: Day 2: Jungle Adventure

Today was A LOT of travel.  We got on a bus at 645 am and drove to the middle of the jungle passing all sorts of fields: bananas, papaya, and lots of other stuff I don't know the names of.  We passed by a village that had a huge dam straight through the middle of it.  The driver and a translator we picked up told us that the dam removed 125 families from their homes because it flooded the good growing land they were on.  This was pretty interesting to hear because the exact situation happened in Haiti in the biography I am reading for class. It is interesting to see how things we may view as improvements also have negative impacts we have to consider. Weighing the balance is the difficult part.

   We drove over some crazy terrain and I was super glad I had taken my motion sickness medicine.  It was pretty crazy but Rising Star has these two buses that all of us call the Super Buses.  They can do anything!! And on the back of them it says Medical Squad - On Duty.  Pretty cool huh!?

   We were dropped off and had to jump on rocks to cross a couple of rivers.  We hiked through the jungle for about 20 minutes to a very remote village.

   We were the first medical team that had ever come to their village.  We set up a clinic on mats that the villagers brought us and laid out in the shade of a big tree.  It is hot here.  I have never experienced this type of humidity and heat.  You are never dry.  You are always sweating and have a film of sticky dried sweat on you that just makes you feel dirty constantly.  Although this is the case, I forget about it most of the time and don't pay attention to the heat until someone mentions it.  It is so pretty here, especially the village we were in today.  It was green! Just like the midwest but cooler because it is India jungle!     Not only was the landscape pretty but the people are beautiful!  The little children that follow us everywhere and call us "auntie" are adorable and the adults have a kindness in their eyes that just lights up their whole face.

   When we arrived in the village and set up the clinic some people came but not as many as we were hoping.  Apparently there was a political rally and the politicians were giving away free stuff so that was were the majority of the people were. Indians love their politics.  Most cement homes have painted icons on them and depict what political party they follow.  The most common ones are two leaves, a sun rising over mountains, scissors, and glasses.  I'm not sure what each means but it is interesting to see how they are grouped by location.  Near Rising Star it is more common to have the leaves but the further we got away the more suns we saw.  I want to look into this further and see what they really mean.

   The people are so gracious to guests.  They always find something to show their appreciation.  Today a man and boy came and started dropping coconuts into a pile, then the man pulled out a machete and started shucking the coconuts so that we could have the coconut water.  They had first brought us a big basin of water for us to drink but we can't exactly drink that so this was the next best thing.  I'm not a big fan of coconut water, it isn't sweet like fake coconut, it is a little sour and bitter.  The flesh of the coconut is pretty good though so we strategically drank some and dumped the rest and had him cut upon the coconut for us.  That man has some real talent.  Incredible precision.
   We got back on the bus and started the 6 hour bus ride.  We stopped for some dinner at a Vegetarian Restaurant (most places do not serve meat here) and ate some lunch/dinner - the first real meal we had all day.  Indians use only their right hand to eat their food, no utensils, and certainly not the left hand (that is for sanitation reasons - let's just say, we always bring toilet paper with us everywhere we go).  We watched our awesome bus drivers (Anon and Veal) eat and figured it out.  Scoop with three fingers and use the thumb to push it into your mouth.  Simple!
   The drive was long and tomorrow we are going on an overnight trip so it is time for a shower and bed.
I'm tired but loving my time here!

Rising Star Day 1

Today was awesome!  Long and exhausting but great!

   We all woke up early cause we couldn't sleep and ate our cereal with boxed milk.  Sidenote: the boxed milk makes it extra soggy - use sparingly

We got ready and put on our traditional choudidars and loaded up the vans.

We headed out to a leprosy colony and set up a clinic.  Bri and I worked the assessment and documentation station so we had to assess the people (ears, eyes, skin, arms, legs, etc...) and write it down so the doctor could focus their care and prescribe accordingly.  This is a lot more difficult than it seems.  They don't speak English.  I don't speak Tamal.  We eventually learned a few words that were very important like valekida - pain, sali - cough, etc... just by using some sign language and lots of head nods.  It was pretty impressive and awesome that two people from completely different worlds can connect in a hot and humid cement room in a remote village of Chennai.

   One man especially really affected me.  His name is Moorthy.  This poor man was so gracious while being in a lot of pain.  He has open sores all over his feet and hands that cause him a great deal of pain.  He tried to cover up his tears but you could tell he was miserable.  He was especially moved when I made the simple gesture of just touching him on the shoulder.  These people are used to being shunned and untouched.  Their country rejects the science of Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) and continues with the traditional belief that it is a curse for some wrong going either in this life or a previous one.  Moorthy kept bowing to me over and over with such humility and gratitude in his eyes.  After I was done with his chart and sent him to the next line for the doctor I still couldn't stop thinking about how amazing it was that I am here and I am helping people who do not receive any help from anyone else.

   After we were done one of the boys in the village that goes to Rising Star brought us to his house in the village.  We were invited inside by his parents.  Their house is a small, two room, cement floor, and thatched palm frond roof shanty very similar to all the others.  We were offered drinks and food but told them we had just eaten a big meal.  These people are amazing.  They have absolutely nothing but are so willing to share and serve with everyone else.  Another boy, Peter (who took a liking to me because he likes to say my name) took us to his home which was a larger cement home with three rooms.  Again we were welcomed.  These people may not have much but you can definitely tell where their priorities lie.  They value religion and family above all else.  Most are hindu and each village has a small temple or place of worship.  They are willing to sacrifice to have those sacred things to them.

  We then loaded up the vans and had a great time again. We all decided on spirit animals and mine is apparently a "de scented skunk".... why??? I asked and they said it was because skunks are really cute but they have some flare... what that means I'm not sure.

   We got back to Rising Star and had PB sandwiches and fruit for lunch at about 3.  We loaded the vans again and headed to another colony to socialize with the people there.  There were about 6 people there and it was a ton of fun!  There was a man there with a ton of energy and led us in singing and dancing.  He was so nice and his wife Mary was elegant and beautiful.  Another lady, Seroja, was tiny, mayber fifty pounds, and crippled from leprosy and years of abuse from her husband.  She is so Christ like.  She loves Christ and has pictures around her home of him.  Each day she saves some rice from her meals to feed the birds.  Her life revolves around feeding those birds and I was so impressed with how clean and neat her home was. Every home I have been in has been clean and well taken care of which is surprising because the country is filthy.  There is no waste management program so trash is everywhere.  Often, you see fires along the road because they light the ditch on fire as soon as it gets too full of trash.  They make their own waste removal happen.

   Another woman there was very short and beautiful.  She was so happy we were there and spending time with them.  She kept holding my hand and giving me hugs.  These people are so used to being 'untouchable' that any form of affection, even a smile, brings them great joy.  Although it was a long drive, it was well worth seeing how happy it made them.

  We drove home and ate dinner as usual, on the roof with banana leaves for plates.  We usually have rice and a spicey sauce with fruit, cucumber/green pepper raw salad, and these flat rice crisps.  Very good but often too spicy for me.
   It was a great day despite dealing with frequent power outages, hot and humid weather where you never get dry, squatty potties, bucket showers, and spicy food.  This is an amazing opportunity and I hope I am touching these peoples' lives as much as they are touching mine.