"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day.

Rich people can't buy more time. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend on another day.

Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.

Success depends upon using it wisely - - by planning and setting priorities. Time is worth more than money, and by killing time, we are killing our own chances of success."

Every moment here is so full and I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm trying my hardest to put in 100%, I would hate to miss one single second.

In the morning we headed down to the school for morning assembly, all of th kids were gathered together and it was awesome to see them all together in their lines. They all stood very still and listened as they were spoken too.

Today was awesome, I was in the tutoring group and got to spend my day at the school helping the kids. It never fails to amaze me how smart they are. We tutored three childrenl, the first in English, the second in math, and the third in social studies. I have to admit that tutoring in English is the hardest, its so hard to explain that certain words don't always follow the normal words. For example wear is not weared like most past tense words, its wore. and say is not sayed its said! One problem is that the children memorize what words have which letters and so they can't sound out words they have never seen before, they simply know the ones they have seen and memorized. I was having such a hard time getting one little girl to sound out the words, she would just ask me "Aunty you say it" and when I told her to sound it out she would just guess words that were somewhat close. however, I had the idea come to my head to grab a whiteboard and write letters on it and have her say their sound. We practiced B,D,G,&J over and over again until she could keep them all straight, and then she would choose an animal or flower type(zebra, lotus) and I would let her draw it as long as she worked to sound it out and spell it afterwards! It worked 500 times better. I see miracles around me everyday as things simply come together and  and work out, whether that be in the way that was planned or some completely different unexpected way. Rising Star Outreach is a non - denominational organization and has people working here of all different faiths and beliefs, but there is one thing they all agree on, that their is some divine power helping this all to happen, some sort of God, whether you are Hindu or Jewish or Christian, or Muslim or anything, they all agree it couldn't be done on their own agreed that their is someone helping out, and I love it. I can't imagine having to learn English as a second language, these kids are so talented and so dedicated. They're language and computer skills will be so valuable to them when they look for jobs. The Marriot and Dell have already said they will hire some of the children if they are able to speak fluent English and work a computer.

 

This is Anita, I tutored her today during her math class. She is such a silly little girl and has the most contagious smile and laugh. not to mention she was unbelievable at math! After a few minutes she climbed over into my lap and we had such a good time laughing together and practicing writing the numbers in word form,

These kids are so happy and joyful, I'm learning so much from them about true happiness and hard work

They inspire me.

After lunch we came back to the new library (which was absolutely beautiful, such an amazing campus) and we helped children write letters to their sponsors. It was one of my favorite parts of my day, the little girl that I helped was absolutely gorgeous and her note was so full of love, the first sentence was you love sponsor(I love sponsor) and then "thank you thank" and her name. She wrote it all by herself only asking for help spelling "sponsor"

After letter writing we were all incited to go and meet Padma. Padma is an amazing women, truly the Mother Teresa of her time. She is the daughter of a past president who worked with Gandhi. She is one of the founders of rising star and started the idea of microloans. Today she was at the RSO campus for a meeting with all of the leaders of the leprosy colonies and to discuss what had been paid back and what new loans were needed. We had the opportunity to sit at her feet and listen to her explain the idea behind the loans and see the love she has for her country and people. I learned so much. Micro loans are small loans given to the people in leprosy colonies with little or no interest that they can use to start a business. As they earn money they pay off the loans. She explained that before microloaning the people had to deal with money lenders who were constantly taking their money saying that they owed more and more interest. She explained that if those who take out the loans are in the hospital or are subject to other circumstancesm arrangements are made to lower their payment that month or push it to the next month altogether. This helps to make them feel like real people and know that they are cared for and not simply being used for their money. She also explained that they have started searching out people afflicted with the disease that are still living with their families. If they are able to contribute to the income they will not be forced to move out and start new colonies, they will be able to become working members of society. Finding these people is harder then just traveling to a colony where every member is in need, but Padma has searched them out and they now give loans to over 200 people still living with their families. One man was able to buy a cow and sell the milk to help his family, he told Padma with tears streaming down his face that now his daughter in law will ask him if he wants a second helping of rice. He is no longer a burden to his family and that means so much to him. It amazed me to learn that they are not only trying to help those afflicted with leprosy to become self sufficient, but also to help stop the formation of new colonies.

There is no other program like this one, it is truly incredible.

Anita cracking up with her friend at play time

my little monkeys hanging of the ladder up to the slide

After playtime and dinner I went up to see my family, for the past two nights some of the little boys have been shy or stand offish but tonight they all ran up giving me a huge hug and yelling Kenzie Aunty Kenzie Aunty. It absolutely made my night, I'm growing to love them so much as I get to know them! One of the 12 year olds that I help with his homework each night told me "I will finish early tomorrow and then we can play and read!" He is such a sweetheart and is so helpful translating what some of the little kids are saying when I can't understand them. He is always willing to slow it down or spell it out when I really need it. I love watching each of the childrens faces absolutely light up when I tell them how proud I am of them or give them a high five for finishing a problem correctly. Their joy is contagious.

High: Being able to have so much fun working with Anita on her math and learning so much from Padma. She has so much wisdom & I admire her so much for the path she has chosen!

Low: Crying super hardcore when we were chopping up onions for dinner.

withgreatlove,

Kenzie