Nandri

Nandri - Thank you in Tamil, it is one of the few words I know but it comes in handy a lot. I am so full of gratitude tonight after an interesting Indian adventure over the last two days. We left Rising Star campus at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning to travel North to the state above Tamil Nadu. We traveled to Andhrapradesh and the city of Tirupati to assist two new colonies with medical care, it becomes more difficult because they speak a different language in this state. Dr. Kumar - the medical director and doctor for Rising Star - put a lot of effort into planning this amazing trip. We were expected to drive 4 hours to reach the destination and cross the state border on the way. We made it all the way to the state border before being stopped, they weren't going to let us go through the border because of some weird random regulations. Apparently we had too many seats in the car and needed some kind of permit. We headed back to the closest town, rented a bus and another driver then drove back to the border. We finally arrived in Tirupati 4 hours behind schedule after spending 8 hours straight in the car - except for an interesting toilet stop. Dr. Kumar was extremely frustrated because we were late for our planned meeting in the leprosy colonly but after a short lunch we headed to the colony. It truly was an amazing experience, we went to two colonies that had never had volunteers or seen Dr. Kumar before so we had to start at the beginning with all the patients.

After arriving at the colony much later than expected we split up into groups and got started - I was assigned to wash the patients feet. I worked extremely hard and was sweating horribly the whole time but we got everything done. At the first colony we were able to help 80 new patients. After a very long day we headed to our hotel, everyone basically crashed when we got back at 10:30 that night.

The next day after a little mix up about the complimentary breakfast (apparently in the morning the hotel figured it shouldn't be complimentary anymore) we headed to the second colony. It was a hundred times harder than the day before and unfortunately I felt useless for most of the day. It was just super hard because we were a group of 25 volunteers stuck in this small meeting hall with all of the patients. There was not enough space for everyone so it was just better for me to stay out of the way. It was rainy all day so we had to cram inside for all of the work which is what made it so hard. It was amazing though I was able to watch all of the volunteers including myself really step up and help in both of the colonies. The second colony was hard for everyone because Dr. Kumar had never even been there and the ulcers, and deformities were probably the worst most of us have seen. It was awesome though after a hard day of working we were able to help 115 new patients get medical care for their leprosy. It was truly and amazing adventure full of fun, humor, excitement, work, and volunteer bonding time.

The drive home was again eventful we were stopped at the border/near the border by a small car. Apparently they wanted us to pay 500 Rupies for a permit to cross becuase we hadn't gotten one before. After some Indian discussion (totally normal for Indians to talk about negotiations for hours) a price was agreed upon and we were able to cross. India loves to favor or provide discounts to Indians. If you are American the price immediately doubles - we had a feeling this was the reason for a lot of our detours and unexpected costs. Also to make the ride more comfortable, randomly our van that we rented had a DVD player so we watched Hot Rod on the way home. After spending two days away from Rising Star Campus it was incredible to come "HOME" and feel the change. The campus at Rising Star has an amazingly peaceful, and calm feel compared to the craziness of India. It feels like home and it becomes a safe haven for anyone who visits.

That was a short overview to keep everyone updated on my latest adventures. I felt so blessed to be able to help Dr. Kumar and Rising Star expand the medical care into another state and to new colonies. It was a big thing for Rising Star, Dr. Kumar, and myself. I will always remember the gratitude, and love in the faces of the patients we met and helped over the past two days.