New colonies - Day 1

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

-Mother Teresa

Missed seeing the kids, but it really has been an awesome 2 days.

Today was absolutely amazing, but so different from any other day so far.

We left the Rising Star campus at 5 am and piled into two buses to take us to a neighboring state. The plan was that we would arrive at 9 and start work in the new colony and leave to go to our hotel at about 2 or 3... but TII, this is India:)

We did somehow manage to leave ontime at 5, but when we reached the border we were stopped and told that one of the buses did not have the correct paperwork. We sat there for a long time and finally had to turn around and rent a different bus. Everyone on the other bus moved onto the new bus, and we were off again! Later on we had to stop again at a grocery store to pick up toilet paper, which we realized we had forgotten to bring. (Indians do not ussualy use toilet paper, because it is expensive; they wipe with their left hand and then wash it. This is why you can eat with only your right hand at restaurants, which can be challenging when it's bread you need to tear!) We were then stopped by a policeman who wanted to again check our paperwork for entering a new city. We arrived at our hotel at around 12pm. I would also like to point out that I was very, very asleep during the entire drive and had to hear these stories after! Thank you dramamine :) ahhaha (motion sickness medicine, the drives here are Mr. Toad's Wild Ride status)

After a quick lunch we finally arrived at the colony. When we got there we walked into a roofed town center/patio area. We were blessed to have the roof, because it had begun to rain. I was immediately overwhelmed seeing the people seated on the ground; they had been waiting for us since that morning. As soon as we began to unload, a man arrived carrying a box of cold sodas and gave one to each of the volunteers. It was hard to hold back the tears as I recieved this sincere gift. They had so little, but they were giving us all that they could. It meant so much to me.

We were then assigned to groups; some were washing feet, others took blood pressure, some bandaged, some were in charge of picture documenting, and 2 other girls and I were assigned to test for diabetes. I will admit I was very nervous about the diabetes testing.  I wasn't sure what to do, but I've realized through these past few weeks that you just have to jump right in 100%; thats they only way to learn. Diabetes testing on leprosy patients can be much harder than just a simple finger prick. Because of the disease, some have very thick and calloused skin, some have no fingers, and some have very poor circulation making it hard to get enough blood.

It was very hard for me to watch their pain as we pricked them multiple times trying to find a soft enough spot. I was very lucky to be working with two other very talented girls, one of whom actually has diabetes herself. They showed me what to do, and eventually I got the hang of it. I was grateful for the opportunity to not only help getting the blood, but being able to comfort the people and simply hold the hands of those who were so scared they would begin to tear up even before we had touched them. We helped about 85 people during our hours at the colony and diagnosed 12 new diabetics. 15 other patients were diagnosed with hypertension. They will now be able to get the medicine and help they need to keep themselves healthy.

When we finished I was "joyously fatigued," one of my new favorite descriptions, and also once again overwhelmed. I started talking to another volunteer, Kim, about our experiances from the day and it was impossible to hold back the tears any longer. We had felt so much love and tried to give as much love as we could give. These people were so inspiring and grateful. One woman walked around placing flowers in each volunteer's hair. I know that I will never be the same; they have taught me so much about living with pain, but loving and enduring at the same time. I have grown to love these people in just one day. They are absolutely beautiful in my eyes.

withgreatlove,

Kenzie