Birthday in India [BY JENNA]

My birthday in India was awesome :).  I bet I was the first person to have my birthday in India from my neighborhood back home.

I went to a Rising Star activity before we left Utah and met a boy name Cole. Cole lived in India before and told me to give out candy on my birthday. He said to remember that my birthday isn't all about me. In India you hand out candy to others on your birthday.  I had a whole bag of candy.

For my birthday party we had cupcakes and ice cream. My cupcakes had to cook in the microwave. We had a cake mix but we made cupcakes. We didn't have an oven so we made cupcakes in the microwave.

I am standing by a colorful, wood carved Elephant on my Birthday.

This is me handing out candy.

I had ice-cream, and 3-layer cupcakes.

Push the Petal on the Right to Accelerate

Driving in India always brings a new adventure. Whether you see cows crossing the street or monkeys climbing on building you can always count on India to make driving fun. The weirdest thing you will ever see while driving is two guys riding on a motorcycle carrying a queen size mattress in-between them. The passenger on the bike holds the mattress so it will not fall over while the other person drives. While driving you will also see a lot of families riding on a single motorcycle. The most people we have seen on a single motorcycle is 6 people. Make sure you always have a camera ready to take a picture of people carrying big buckets, Logs, or even bricks on their heads. Whenever you drive be ready to see these things.

A loaded motorcycle

Person carrying a sack on their head

Person carrying a bucket with rice seedlings on their head

Cow crossing the street

Driving in India

Driving in India is crazy, to say the least. If any of our cousins have read anything from grandma and grandpa Hull, you know a little about what it is like in the Philippines. It's similar here. There are cows on the road, they just roam free, and you have to avoid them. [EDIT: I learned today that if there is a cow in the road, and you have to slow down, or turn to avoid it, that means that the cow prevented a wreck. Holy cow.]The roads are riddled with potholes, making the ride bumpy. There are speed bumps at nearly every intersection, and the drivers here don't slow down too much.

We've seen some weird stuff on the road too. People have trucks, like moving vans, and the cram as many people as they can in the back. We counted 18 once. There are also lots and lots of scooters. They fit supposedly 5 people onto one scooter, but the most we've seen is 4.

It's pretty crazy, driving in India.

Rising Star

We are currently in India serving at Rising Star Outreach. It is an organization that is dedicated to helping people with leprosy and their kids. We live at a hostel that is nearby the school for the kids. Every other day we go to the leprosy colonies, and help the people there. It is really amazing, that some of them don't have hands, or have stubs for feet, and yet they are still so happy. Many of the people with leprosy are smiling, cheerful people, which I think is awesome. In India, those with leprosy are shunned and forced to live in their own colonies. Even their kids rare shunned, even though they don't have leprosy. On the days that we don't go to the colonies, we help the kids in school.

On a colony day, we leave at around 9 and go for an hour-ish car ride to one of the colonies. We spent 10 or 20 minutes setting up the stations that the people go to. One of our family members is usually at each station. The first one is they get their books. They take these around and get different medical stuff written in them. At the next station they get their blood pressure taken. Most of them have bandages around their feet to protect their ulcers, and at the next station they get them cut off. Then they go get their feet cleaned and oiled. Sometimes, their feet are more like stubs than feet, and toes are often times nonexistant. After they get new bandages on, they pick up their medicine and leave. Yesterday, we went to a smaller colony, and had some time after, so some of the other volunteers, Shaun and Catherine played some music and we had a dance party with some of the people with leprosy. These people can hardly walk, and some of them can barely crawl. We tried to get everyone involved, and you could really tell that they appreciated it and loved that we would take time out of our days to help them and make them feel happy.

On the days that we don't go to the colonies, we go to the school for the kids. We help them with their various classes, and then after, we usually go play with the kids after. Sometimes we play basketball with the older kids, or soccer, or tag, or anything. The kids are always so happy, which really amazes me. These kids are separated from their parents, and sent to a school. They see their parents once a month or less. But they are still happy and cheerful.

When the kids eat meals, it's almost always rice and curry. We go over and eat with them for usually one meal a day at least. I can't say that I am particularly fond of rice or curry though. Luckily we have a little kitchen in the hostel, so we can eat other foods. We are getting sick of toast, cereal, and fresh fruit though.

I went to a leprosy colony and ...

I went to a leprosy colony and a dance party broke out. Seriously. A dance party. In a leprosy colony. Not what I expected.

There are three purposes for our visits to the colonies: (1) medical, (2) emotional, and (3) physical. The medical part comes with the different stations at the clinic: blood pressure, bandage removal, washing, oiling, re-bandaging...Emotional comes from how we interact with the patients and help them feel loved. Physical is supposed to come from some sort of movement resembling physical therapy. We haven't done too much in terms of physical but yesterday was different.

Yesterday we had two professional dancers with us, Shaun Parry and Catherine Poppel. They brought a sound system and one of the drivers had some Indian music on his phone. Before we arrived Shaun prepared us for what was going to happen. He said (and I'm paraphrasing), "After we work we are going to dance. We are in the middle of nowhere India. Nobody here knows you. Nobody here cares what you do. It is possible that nobody here will ever see you again. After the work is done we are going to play music and dance with the patients. If you are self-conscious then they will be too. If you let go and have fun with it they will too, ten times over." Shaun also explained that previously this colony was among the most depressed and that their souls would really be lifted by dancing with us. It would give them a chance to forget about their mundane and somewhat difficult existence if only for a few minutes.

Shaun was right. This colony really was in the middle of nowhere. It had about 6 or 8 patients affected in varying degrees by leprosy. One man moved around on a 2-foot by 2-foot cart with wheels and by pushing himself along with the pads of his fingerless hands. One tiny woman moved around on all fours on her hands and feet, barely more than a crawl. She seriously could not have been taller than Jenna and probably weighed less. Another man was mostly blind. The colony leader was Jayaraj. "Raj" means "king" so we called him "King Jaya". He was so full of life and much more happy in his circumstances than I would be.

We set up our "clinic" outside in the shade of some trees. The bare ground had been recently swept with the little straw hand brooms they use so often here. It was almost like they had prepared for welcome guests. We finished our medical work and shortly before we were done, true to his word, Shaun hooked up the sound system and got the music going. When all of the work was finished we cleared the tables and chairs and had a dance party, India-style.

Shaun had us form a circle (including those who could not stand up) so that we could all participate. He led the party by asking each of the patients to lead us all in a move. We would all imitate the move to the beat of the music for a bit and then someone else would be the leader. At times Shaun would pick up one of the patients and dance with them. They liked it when I picked up Jenna and danced with her right next to them. Once, while Shaun was holding the little lady and I was holding Jenna, the little lady grabbed Jenna's hand in her stumps and held it up to her cheek. It was so spontaneous, tender, and filled with pure emotion. Other times we knelt down with the ones that couldn't stand and held their fingerless hands and did simple dancing motions, swinging our arms side to side, raising them over our heads, clapping, doing patty cake.

One of the ladies was too inhibited to dance at first. Shaun sent Catherine to invite her. She had soon joined us in the circle and shortly thereafter was totally loving being the leader and dancing in the center of the circle with all of us following her. Her face showed pure joy.

The nurses and doctor stood watching, laughing, and enjoying our little dance party but they strongly resisted all invitations to join us. Jenna tried several times to grab their hands and pull them into the circle but they declined each time. They were fine to watch us but didn't want to join in.

The quality of dancing may not have been the highest but I know for sure that the act of dancing with the group was a very, very good thing. And I really enjoyed it.

Shaun Parry with Jayaraj (King Jaya) and Catherine Poppel warming up for the dance party.

Jenna and I with Shaun and Saroja.

Note the nurses (top, left) watching Shaun and me dancing with these two patients.

I don't know her name but she sure LOVED being in the center of the circle.

Sam dancing with this man who would not leave this doorway.

Dance Party India 2012

Learning Service in a Leprosy Colony

We went to 3 leprocy colonies this week. At the 2nd one I learned a little more about service.

I was at the bandage removal station. This is the first stop after blood pressure and pulse where the patients get their dirty (sometime very gross) bandages removed. As an example of how bad the bandages can be, at another colony I had the same assignment. The patient had a bandage on the part of his foot where his toes would normally be. His big toe was missing from the tip to the first knuckle. The 2nd toe was barely a nub. The middle toe was gone. From the sores it looked like the fourth and fifth toes had recently been there but no longer were. Let's just say the bandages weren't pleasant.

So there I was helping remove bandages. A middle-aged man sat down and I removed his bandages. He seemed comfortable and his sores weren't the worst I have seen. He went on through the different stations and finished up his visit.

A little later another man sat down in front of me his right leg only had about 8 inches below the knee. His left leg was normal except for all of his toes were gone. He had a prosthetic limb and otherwise seemed comfortable with his circumstances. I didn't see any bandages to remove until he took off the limb and 7 (yes, seven) layers of socks and padding. The disease had apparently taken the bottom part of his leg. As he moved through the stations he left his socks, padding, leg, and shoes behind.

Just as I realized that he might need his things and was going to take them to him, the first man, another leprosy patient who had his own concerns and cares, carefully gathered up the socks, padding, leg, and shoes and took them to his friend. As soon as I saw it happen I realized I was seeing something Christ-like and it touched me deeply. I later found out that this man who helped his friend was the designated colony leader. What a great example! It reminds me of the Savior's words, "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant."

People Stealing My Hat

Here at Rising Star people think that it is fun to steal my hat then get there picture with it.  It has happened many times with many different kids.  They never steal my dads hat, only mine.  I have tried many different things like tightening my cap so it squeezes my brain out, but nothing ever seems to work.

Someone trying to steal my hat

Me with my hat

Stolen!!!

They finally got my hat

Another one with my hat

One more

Here at Rising Star people think that it is fun to steal my hat then get there picture with it.  It has happened many times with many different kids

School at Rising Star

We have spent several days helping in the Peery Matriculation School here on the Rising Star campus and like everything in India, it has been an interesting experience.  I have helped out in my children's classes quite a bit in the past 10 years so I thought it would be about like that.  You would think that by now I would have learned to never assume anything!  Anytime I have any preconceived idea what something will be like, I am wrong.

We were each given a schedule of which classes to attend, or students to tutor.  The first day one of the teachers handed me the book and asked me to teach a few pages.  The concept was easy, putting information in a chart, but the content for the chart wasn't easy for me.  We were supposed to graph different foods and more than half of the foods on the list I had never heard of before.  Kind of hard to make a good graph when you don't know what category to put something in.

During a class with the UKG (Kindergarten), the teacher handed me the book as I entered and told me to teach about living and non-living things for 40 minutes.  Not to hard of a topic, except that the English of the UKG children is very limited and I had no preparation time.  We used lots of actions about eating, drinking and breathing.  I had Jenna with me so she was my example of a living thing and we used a chair as an example of a non-living thing.   Each child had to decide whether to give Jenna or the chair some food.  We sang lots of songs with actions, well I should rephrase that, I sang while the kids followed along with the actions.  I don't know how much they learned, but we had fun.  

Other times I have tutored an individual child.  Some of those have gone well, like when a little girl figured out some math problems or I helped a little boy memorize some passages about India.  Others haven't gone so well, like trying to help a girl with very limited English in 9th grade biology.  That subject is challenging enough for me (and I think I have a pretty good grasp on English), so I can only imagine how hard it is for her.  I have also worked with a few children who have attention problems so it takes a little creativity to try to keep them focused.  I have helped a few children with their environmental studies.  Today we were talking about occupations by looking at pictures.  Once again, not to hard of a concept, but when you don't know what the picture is it becomes a bit more difficult. I learned that a dhobi is a person who does laundry by hand.  I guess I didn't realize that was an occupation!

After every two classes the children have  a 10 minute break to go outside on the lawn  where there is no playground equipment or anything to play on.  And have I mentioned that India is hot?  Not quite like recess in the schools I attended.  

The children all have uniforms and shoes seem to be optional.  The windows don't have glass, but are open to the outside to allow some air movement.  The floors are all cement with no rugs or carpets.  They are all very simply furnished with wooden desks that two children share.  But the school is good and the children are learning.  They are being given a chance in life through education.  

Seth in front of the school.  He did his BSA Eagle project for this school.  

The Drinking Fountain.  The metal cup is attached to the faucet. I Don't know if the cup ever gets washed.  

One of the lower grade classrooms

One of the upper grade classrooms

Seth in a hallway.  The hallways are covered, but open to the outside.

Seth with some kids during break time

Me with some of the girls during break time

Seth and Joe with a bunch of kids during break time.  They love to have their picture taken, but don't like to stand still!

Joe playing leapfrog with some boys during break time

Cool Salt Pictures

Here at the school the housemothers make amazing artwork using salt and some coloring. It takes them only about 10 minutes, but the final result is amazing.

When we first got here we were greeted with this welcome sign.

this was at the steps of the hostel

This one is amazing, it was on the second floor of the school.
Remember, this is all made out of salt

This one was next to the last one
and for those of you who were wondering, that is not
the Nazi sign at the top.  It is backwards and it means welcome in India 

Anecdotes from India #1

This is a collection of short anecdotes from our time in India. I hope you enjoy them!

When we go places we are in a 12-13 person van with a driver. We get noticed by other people because we kinda stand out. Whenever I catch someone looking I have made it a habit to smile and wave. Some immediately smile and wave back. Others act like they think I'm waving and smiling at someone else. When I persist their faces break into big grins and they smile and wave back. It doesn't matter if the person is old or young, male or female. It's kind of fun.

At one of the leprosy colonies I observed one of the other volunteers introducing herself to a patient. I mean really introducing herself. She stopped everything else she was doing and looked into the eyes of the person and said, "I am Emily. What is your name?" And then after hearing the name she would repeat back the name and ask, "Am I saying it right?" It was such a small and personal thing. I felt from the time, attention, and tone that Emily really loved those people and wanted to serve them. They could feel it too.

One of the Indian boys was doing push ups and he wasn't doing them right so I got down on the ground with him and showed him how. He asked, "Why is your face all red?" Then he joked, "Mine turns white when I do that."

The other day when we were out I remembered to wear my hat but I forgot to put on sunscreen. Consequently I got a sunburn and a nice pink-white tan line on the back of my head and neck. The children had never seen that before and were fascinated by my painful condition. They didn't have an answer when I asked if they ever got sunburned.

One of the children was fiddling with my shirt. There seems to be a lot of that going on. Any time I am around the children they want to push the buttons on my watch, rub the hair on my arms and legs, touch my bald head, etc. This time it was fiddling with my shirt. The boy noticed the hair on my chest and was fascinated by that and kept wanting to look down my shirt. Then he called his friend over to look. I put an end to that.

I was standing in the Dining Hall at meal time and one of the boys came over, put his hands square on my chest, on one each side, and said, "Make them dance." It took me a minute to figure out what he wanted but here is the story. One of the other volunteers (Shaun Parry, great guy) has well-developed chest muscles that he has learned to control. He can make his chest dance. I'm sure I was a disappointment to the boy because my chest muscles aren't really that well developed nor can I make them dance.

The dining hall after dinner is generally a mad house. Some kids are cleaning and the rest are playing. One evening a boy sought me out with a purpose. I sensed when he approached me that he was on a mission and didn't want to play. He grabbed me and took me to one of the house mothers. I noted that it was one of the older, more stern women. For a moment I was afraid. When we got to her it didn't look like she needed me for anything. Then I saw her quietly patting the bench beside her. I sat down. Quietly, without looking at me and while keeping an eye on the mayhem she said, "We are thankful for your family. Your family is a good example to the children."

Rising Star Children

We have spent a lot of time with the children here at Rising Star.  We have helped out in the school a few days and also had the chance to just play with the children.  One of my favorite parts of the day is playtime.  We get to play tag, soccer, basketball, games, or just on the playground.  I just love to see the bright smiling faces of the children.  A few days ago I spent an hour pushing children on swings.  They loved "underdogs" and I loved to do the underdog and then turn around and see their bright smiling faces.  Another day I played soccer with a group of boys.  When I joined the game I asked what the teams were and the answer was "people going this way and people going that way."  The game didn't seem to have boundaries or even regular soccer rules, but it did have a lot of fun.  Another day I played tag with several children.  Somehow I was always "it" no matter how many others I tagged.  But through it all, I just love to see smiles of the children.  

Beautiful Children

Sam and Rich playing soccer with the boys. 

Jenna getting henna on her arm

Jenna and some of the girls in their school uniforms

Some of the school girls and me

Jenna with two new friends

Jenna on the playground with some kids

They love to have their picture taken

Playing basketball

Joe and some of the boys

Happy Thanksgiving!

When we were serving in the leprosy colony yesterday we saw some turkeys just walking around the colony like they owned the place. When we saw them we thought of back home where we would have a nice thanksgiving dinner.  Here we are probably going to have rice and curry, we have it for basically every meal.

Jenna with a turkey

Service in the Leprosy Colonies

I am not even sure how to describe my experiences so far in working with the medical team at the leprocy colonies.  It is really an amazing, humbling experience.  So far we have been to two different colonies.  Before going the first time I really worried if I could do this.  I wondered if I could really work with these people.  I had seen pictures of people affected with leprosy and some were so disfigured. The first day  I was assigned to the washing station where once old bandages were removed I washed the feet of the patients to clean the ulcers on their feet.  Some of them weren't so bad, but others were missing so much skin, or toes, or half of their feet.  I tried my best to smile at them and then to proceed as gently as possible.  It's very humbling to serve these people who have been cast out of society.  I saw people come in with walking canes, feet bandaged, or feet mostly missing walking on stubs.  One man was on a board with some wheels attached.  I felt like we did so little for them.  I thought about the medical care and hospitals I have seen in the US and how different this was.  We were in a partially open pavilion with flies, certainly not the clean sterile environment.  Sam was in charge of the water.  He would bring us buckets of  fresh water from the well and then take the contaminated water away.  

Seth putting drops in eyes

Joe likes to hand out the patient charts

Sam changing the water

Jenna with one of the patients

Me (in the mustard yellow) at he washing station

Out family in front of the community center where the medical clinic was set up

The second time out, I felt more confident and prepared.  While we were unloading the vans several of the patients were there waiting for us.  They were so happy.  That kind of surprised me.  Here are these  people who are cast out of society, affected with leprosy, but with such smiles on their faces.  I thought about that as we served them today. today the clinic was set up outside under some trees, a very beautiful setting.   My assignment was eye drops and my first thought is this will be easy.  But I was wrong.  The first patient was easy then the next man sat down and took off his glasses.  Right away I could see that he just had one eye.  The other eye was just missing.  I was not prepared to see that so it kind of shocked me a bit. I proceeded to put drops in his eye.  Other patients tried to hold their eyes shut so I had to gently open their eyes to get the drops in.  Others were either blinking or their eyes were twitching which made it difficult to get the drops in.  But through it all, I saw happy people.  That is something I did not expect to find there. I only expected to find pain and suffering, but instead I found people who are in pain and are suffering, but are still happy.

One of the most happy people I have ever met.  She laughed when Rich took off his hat  and showed her his bald head.  

Jenna and Seth getting ready to check blood pressure

Sam cutting off old bandages