I'm at Rising Star Outreach now, the school for children of parents or relatives who have leprosy. Yesterday was awesome! I went to the medical clinic to help clean the feet of the leprosy patients in a colony. My job was to rub oil on their feet after Diane and Amy (another recent volunteer) washed them. After the oil, the nurse would cut off the dead skin, clean out their sores, and dress their wounds. We worked for about 3 hours straight. I was afraid I would either start crying or get nauseated at the sight of their deformities and open sores, but I didn’t do either. In fact, it was very rewarding.
After cleaning up the clinic, we drove to a place where several lepers had their paintings on display for sale. I understand that one even painted with his toes, I believe. They were beautiful, but I have no wall space for them, as they were rather large. It would have been fun to buy one, however.
Then we went for “lunch” and had chappatis and dipping sauce. They were pretty good, but a bit spicy. My body has been “revolting” on a number of things ever since I was in Nairobi, so all this spicy Indian food hasn’t been the best for me. I try to eat, but I don’t eat much. I think if this is still happening once I get back into the USA, I’ll have to go to a doctor to see if I’ve picked up a parasite or something somewhere along the way.
We also walked into the Thottanaval Village where some of our students are from. Although it was very different than the villages in Kenya, the people, especially the kids, were all very friendly and wanted to have their pictures taken just as in the Kenyan villages. In the village, I got an ice cold Pepsi – the first one I’ve had since August – and it was sheer heaven! I’m not a big pop drinker, but it tasted like manna from heaven!
Every aspect of the day was a high for me. We had a Family Home Evening dinner here at the Elephant House with the staff and talked about our lows and highs for the day. I really had to stretch my brain to even come up with a low.
The door to our room - "Peafowl".
I have worked in the evenings with the kids, which has really been fun. Last night, I worked with three boys to test them on their science book in preparation for an exam. The night before, I read stories in the girl’s dorm, and the first night, I helped some boys study for a social studies test and visited with others.
Standard V boys studying for a science test.
One of the boys in Standard VII made me a Christmas card this morning and said how he "knew I missed my family, and he loved me so much." It was a great way to start my day!
Today, the director's wife wanted me to observe her teaching conversational English to an adult worker here to see if I can give her any pointers. I also worked in the school during the day for the first time. After helping with the ESL student, I mostly did one-on-one tutoring. I really wish I had just come here to begin with now and not even wasted my time with the first week in India. It was less than wonderful - by a LONG shot. I'll only be here until Friday night, then we'll fly out for So. Korea at 4:10 AM on Saturday from Mumbai. I've got only a little over a month left to my trip now! That's hard to believe.
After school, we went over to the “Star Store” where the students can turn in stars that they earn on their assignments for various items. Diane and I were standing there as a few kids wanted to read the books I’d checked out of the library to read to the kids tonight, when four little girls started literally picking head lice out of each others’ hair and either playing with them or throwing them on the ground. It was at that point that Diane and I decided that seeing how the Star Store worked wasn’t as enticing as we thought. We made a beeline for our dorm and later put tea tree oil in our hair as a preventative (or so we were told). I guess we’ll see about that one. Having encountered head lice for so many years during my teaching career, I know how difficult they can be to get rid of. I’m NOT interested in sharing my head with a blood-sucking louse!!! I bought a bed bug pillow cover before I left home, but unfortunately, I left it in our last hotel before coming here. The dorm rooms are really quite nice and only a couple of years old, but I know that many of the volunteers have also gotten head lice, so I’ve been a little concerned about that. Oh well, there’s not much more I can do at this point.
Around 6:00, we went to a house warming for one of the teachers. We drove about 40 minutes to her village. It was nice to see, but Amy had a flight to catch tonight, and Diane and I didn’t know any of the people, so we all left before they had served dinner. It smelled good, but I was a little nervous about eating anything there. We walked over to the hostels to help Amy pass out DumDums to all the kids before she left for the airport. Diane and I were really hungry. All we could find to eat here was a piece of toast with peanut butter and an apple. I’m not eating like I do at home by any stretch of the imagination! I sort of came to that conclusion before I even left home, but I have to admit it’s been hard! I don’t feel like I’m getting a balanced diet at all, and I’m having to eat really weird things. All part of the experience, I suppose.
Well, that’s about it for now. Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs, mosquitoes, or head lice bite…
Kadi
No comments:
Post a Comment