Change

The time has come for me to go home. It will be a change. The children will say goodbye to the volunteers and wait in anticipation for new volunteers. The volunteers will head back home to the rushed flow of everyday life. Some may return to life before India but most hope to come home changed. The change happens inside yourself I have experienced a small part of the world here in India. My eyes have been opened to many new things and I hope with my new "Indian Eyes" I can see my world at home differently. I am grateful to all the amazing people in my life who made this trip possible. I was meant to come to Rising Star this summer in order to help the children understand who they are. Thanks to my Grandparents and other family members I immediately became a celebrity on campus. Each of the children know me whether it is "Cannah", "Hannah", or "Banana". They recognize me and are constantly calling to me "Auntie, Auntie, Auntie". I have tried very hard to learn as many names as possible but with 150 students it is difficult. I know a lot of names for the month I spent on campus yet at the same time I tried to get to know a few students better. Names are one thing but being able to tell a child about their personality is different. I learned who the children are now at Rising Star and I am anxious to see who they become. They all have the potential to change India - they just have to take advantage of the opportunity.

I Love Life!!

India has an amazingly special way of changing you. It is such an influencing country whether it is the people you meet, the children you love, or the atmosphere of this unique place. It has a gift that you cannot walk away from.

Working Hard or Hardly Working

Final day of construction and boy was it hot. It was a fun day but sad because everything is winding down. It has been fun to see all the work we have been doing (moving bricks, cement, and dirt) come together into the different structures. We have been working on five different toilets and a large community center - we just do whatever Mr. Boss/Foreman Victor says. We have done a lot as a volunteer group. With the rotations we work about every four days and the Indian workers make so much progress while we are away.

We spent some of the morning at the Bindu Art school because it would be our last chance to view the art. After our stop there we really got to work moving cement and singing. Our volunteer coordinator Jennie Doezie has split the groups - Scorpion, Shakti, Cobra. I am proud to be a scorpion. The challenge this week is to prepare a song/cheer for our competition tomorrow night - our song is amazing. Thanks Andrea and Courtney. We definitely sang as we worked the other teams better watch out. While we moved cement there was a commotion and screaming among the village women - turns out there was a snake in the house.

After playing with the snake we got back to work moving more cement. As I was walking down the road to the toilet location I noticed two women playing a game. I went over and talked to them through my smiles and gestures - the language barrier is very frustrating. I watched them play for a few minutes and it totally reminded my of Parcheesi.

Afternoon on campus was normal - break was cut short by a trip to the junction. Most of the volunteers were busy with their talent classes during playtime sadly I seemed to miss it all today. I got caught up in a conversation with a few of the coordinators and volunteers so we didn't make it to play time. Dinner was fun it was smaller tonight because the Hendershot's - assistant managers on campus - didn't bring there family to dinner. It was actually really fun to only have the volunteers at dinner I enjoyed the small group. Bedtime at the hostel was emotional for me tonight - I know it is time to come home but it will be hard to leave. Rising Star is an amazing place there is a wonderful spirit and mentality on this campus. The work Rising Star is doing will help to change India they are teaching the future leaders, doctors, and military of India. These children will change the world or fall into a hole they dig themselves Rising Star has given them the opportunity they just have to take it.

This is Veeran he is a crazy ball of energy with the best attitude around. When I first met Veeran I saw his personality as a total gangster/punk - he wears the best low ride jeans. After spending quite a bit of time with him his personality is nothing like what I first saw in him. Veeran is sweet, sensitive and totally awesome I have loved getting to know him. Lately I have thought a lot about sponsoring him through school so we can keep the connection.

Routine

It felt good to get back to Rising Star and a routine schedule. Today we went out to do medical work at Chetnaputtium (where i fainted) this time was a lot better, seeing as i stayed up right the whole time. I truly fell in love with this colony each time I was there. It is small and tucked away behind the train tracks, no big houses or even buildings we can work in. The people are amazing they are one large family and so welcoming of the volunteers. I washed the feet of the few leprosy patients who needed their ulcers cleaned. Then I helped the nurses distribute the drugs that is usually one of my favorite parts of medical. As we were about to leave the colony I was asked by one of the nurses to help her with a patient too sick to leave his house. We walked to his house to look at the large infection on his foot. I along with his wife and daughter became responsible for holding him down while the nurses tried to push the infection out. It was horrible he wriggled and squirmed trying to get away screaming the whole time.

The rest of the day was fun enjoyed playtime, prayer, and dinner on the roof.

Bedtime with the children was short because they went to bed early then the volunteers started Slumdog Millionaire. It was interesting to hear the feelings of the volunteers who have never seen it before because it really does give an idea of India.

An Indian sunset.

Northern India

Spent the last three days going at a crazy pace as we tried to fit everything in. We left Rising Star campus at 3:30 a.m. friday morning to start our crazy adventure up north. We endured an early two hour bus ride to the Chennai airport where we boarded an early flight to New Delhi. Once in New Delhi all 17 of the volunteers in the group got on a large orange tour bus and headed around Delhi. We drove through the Embassy's which was really cool to see the different designs and architecture of the buildings. After the bus tour we headed to Old Delhi for a rickshaw ride to a spice market and a stop at McDonalds.

After our ice cream cone from McDonalds we loaded back on the bus for a 5 hour drive to Agra. We arrived in Agra about 9 o'clock friday night and enjoyed room service while we watched Glee.

Saturday was another early morning. We were up and ready to go at 5:15 a.m. we headed straight to the Taj Mahal from the hotel to be there at sunrise. It was amazing the architecture is beautiful.

After spending time enjoying the beauty of the Taj Mahal we moved down the river to Agra Fort. The public is only allowed in one small section of this large fort because it is still in use by the Indian Military. Again it was another amazing building - I liked the Taj better but the red brick of the fort was an interesting contrast.

We finished our sight seeing around 10 a.m. leaving just enough time to get back to the hotel for breakfast. We were supposed to take the next few hours to catch up on sleep but, instead we went swimming. Later in the afternoon we went to a rug making shop, it was really fun to see how these amazing rugs are hand made.

We did some shopping then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. Then that night we went disco dancing at the hotel. Despite being a long day it was so much fun and I loved all of it. This morning we got to ride elephants - it was awesome. Then we travelled by bus, plane, and car to get back to the campus of Rising Star - to get home. There is a saying that is popular around Rising Star TII (This Is India). Usually it has a negative connotation like when the bus broke down, or we had to rent more cars to go into Andrapadesh. This weekend was a TII weekend for me, everything we did was Indian (despite a few American food stops). The long days didn't matter because India was showing me the beauty of the world.

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.

Days Turn to Weeks

Today wore me out and I am going to feel it tomorrow. Started with an early run and workout before the day even really began. I was able to talk to my parents this morning which totally made my day. Then it was off to Bharathapuram for another day of construction work - today really was work, hard work. We moved crazy amounts of cinder blocks for the foundations of different squatters around the colony. Not only were they extremely heavy but we had to carry them super far.

It was a hard working day. I was so tired during break I just wanted to sleep instead we had a little excitement around campus. As our volunteer coordinator Jenny Dosey was walking along Rising Star's Pathway of Hope to the volunteer hostel she saw a snake. The snake went into a pipe under the pathway and the security guard needed to get it out. The guard lit a pipe on fire and stuck it into the other end of the pipe to get the snake out. The snake came out and it turned out to be a cobra about 2 1/2 feet long. It was crazy all the guards and Steele Hendershot starting hitting it with sticks to kill it. Definitely a highlight of the afternoon and super exciting to see a cobra. Dinner was unusual also because the normal location on the roof wouldn't work when it started to down pour right as dinner started. Instead all the children ran inside for pray while the volunteers headed back to the volunteer block. It has been three nights since we had dinner on the roof and I have missed it.

Church Services

Sunday is usually a long day - today was no different. Two hour ride into Chennai to attend the small branch (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). It is an awesome branch full of amazing people. Everyone is extremely smart and they have a strong testimony of their beliefs. The ride home was a little longer because the bus broke down about 15 km from Rising Star. The bus breaking down was a total high for the day it gave a group of the volunteers a good time to bond. The ride home was a total party it was super fun. I was also given a nickname of Athena (goddess of wisdom) I definitely approve.

Once back at Rising Star we had a little down time before playtime with the kids. Playtime is a serious workout it wears me out everyday. Our volunteer coordinator Jenny Dosey is amazing and she made everyone spaghetti tonight it was an amazing treat. After bedtime stories and homework help with the children we experienced a crazy Indian rain storm. It was so much fun all of the volunteers in the hostel ran out to the courtyard playing in the rain until we were completely soaked. Another Amazing Day.