Vanakkam Everyone:
Today was our first incredible day going out with the medical team! We took about a forty-five minute drive to the colony and were so happy to find the sweetest and most grateful people in the world waiting there for us with open arms. Among them was Noman, a man who only recently had lived his life in complete darkness. Not only being afflicted with leprosy, he also lived much of his life being completely blind. Through the help of Rising Star, Noman was able to receive eye surgeries that have left him today being able to see in complete technicolor. What an incredible example of faith and gratitude we have found in this man. Every time volunteers come to the colony, he will stay by us nearly the whole time singing and praising God saying "Hallelujah, hallelujah!" What an incredible way to begin our experience of helping to heal these victims of leprosy. While there, we examined patients, removed their bandages, cleaned their ulcers, massaged and prepared the skin for re-bandaging, re-bandaged the ulcers, and administered medication to some forty patients.
I (courtney) got to assist our sweet nurse with cutting out the dead tissue, cleaning out the ulcers, and applying ointment and new bandages. This was an awesome learning experience, and although I was a careful, but slow worker, she said that I did great work and that I would be a great nurse someday.
I (Jordan) got to assist in washing the patients feet and ulcers after their bandages were first removed. I loved doing it for a lot of reasons, I mean what's not to love? I got to connect with these amazing people while serving them. It is amazing how the Indian people consider people afflicted with leprosy the lowest of all and to be a cursed people, and how despite that, we got to be the ones to come and care for them and wash their feet. I loved looking at them as Christ looks at them, and wash their feet as He would if He were here. Performing that act helped me feel that love that He has. We got to look into their eyes and feel their pain, but also their gratitude. It was a humbling and moving experience. Our hearts are already so full from these experiences and we love getting to share them with you! Thank you for your prayers each day! We truly do feel them and feel your love! Naundry (thank you)
So this is an addition to yesterday, because we hadn't gotten to posting this yet. Today we spent the day with the kids, tutoring and playing with them. Tutoring is always awesome to watch how motivated and disciplined some of the kids can be. They progress on their subjects so well, and it is fun to work with them. When we tutor we help with English mostly, but also some Math. One fun thing tonight was to listen to one of the boys talk about how the education he receives at Rising Star is so different and so much better than the education at typical Indian schools. He wants to go on a mission(some of the kids go to church with us on sundays), become a doctor and help the poor of India. When we go to the colonies we are reminded what kind of environment these kids would be in without Rising Star. It is impossible to imagine them in those places, they just don't fit there. Rising Star makes an unbelievable difference in each child's life that attends here. We often remark on how lucky they were to be born into a family afflicted by leprosy, so they could go here.
We did our talent classes tonight, which is basically meant to expose the kids to an experience they wouldn't have in India. We did dirt cups, ya know with chocolate pudding, crushed oreos, and gummy worms. Sufficient to say it was Chaos!!! These kids come from a begging background, so once food was shown kids from other groups started coming up to us, and the kids in our group were all over it, and there were tiny little hands EVERYWHERE!!!! "Uncle, Please", "Auntie, Please" were the cries. It was so hard to say no, but we had to have enough for our group and we are trying to teach them self-relliance, so if they weren't in our group we had to work though them. Maybe one of the hardest things we have ever done, it was emotionally exhausting!! We love these kids so much, and the looks on their faces were completely difficult to ignore. We wish we could have known what to prepare for, because next week we have a good plan set up, but it was a learning experience.
My(Jordan) highlight of the day was with a boy named Sadeesh. Each night, we are with our "families" to help them finish their homework and get to bed, but basically it turns into a wild play time until the house mother starts getting them to sleep. They have endless amounts of energy, I swear! There are 4 of the volunteers paired with at least 15 kids. The youngest, this is his first year at Rising Star, is named Sadeesh and he is completely shy, or at least he was. The first three nights I couldn't get him to even speak a word to me, let alone play with me. The house mother says he is quiet, and just getting used to everything and he likes to watch from a distance. But I was determined to make a connection with this little one. He has this perfectly round face, and cute smile, I will have to take a picture. Well, I moved slowly tonight, playing with the kids around him and slowly getting him involved, and after a while he was really warming up to me. Then we started doing a game where he would jump up, wrap his legs around my waist, and I would help him into a back flip holding his arms. He loved it, and now we are best buds! I want to be his sponsor. We can sponsor kids and pay for their schooling, which I have come to learn is an invaluable gift to them. The parents pay each year for their kids to come here, but none of that money is spent. It all goes into an account for them, which they get when they graduate to help them pay for college supplies and stuff. Paying as they go along helps the children and parents appreciate the education more than if it was just given them.
I think that is all for tonight. We love you all, thanks for supporting us and following us on this journey. Please keep praying for us, and "like" Rising Star on Facebook! We want to raise awareness, together we can continue to help these beautiful children, and this beautiful country, develop and reach their full potential.
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