April 11-12, 2015 (India to Home)

Last Day at Rising Star.  I was up early and changed our sheets and finished packing and cleaning up. I really wanted to say by to Abisha but they were having opening exercises and then were supposed to go in and clean the school on their last day and knew I would be too much of a distraction. Instead I took my last few minutes and went and wrote in her memory book and along with Thrisha's- who had finally opened up to me and really just got close to her the last night and was so happy for me to show her her new baby cousin. Her Aunt had been the one whose painting I had bought in town and who had lost fingers and toes to leprosy. This had been a reminder to me that she was in a family that has been deeply affected by leprosy but also whose life had deeply changed because of RSO and the course of her and her family's future.

We left with the group and said our goodbyes to Dr. Navadtha, the in country Indian volunteer coordinator who would be staying after everyone had left. She is a great addition to the school being a Dr, being 24 and Indian and a great role model and just a great liaison like Dr. Susan between the girls and donors and volunteers. Grateful for her. I worked out with her that I would be sending her all the photos to give to the girls who were so excited to get photos of themselves and their families I had visited.

We drove about 90 mins to a town where there is a temple which has an elephant that gives blessings.  Sure enough when we walked in there was the elephant. We lined up to give a small donation to the elephant which in exchange he would swing his trunk and touch your head #blessing. We walked through the town, which was extremely crowded and would be good if we wanted Saris since it had several silk shops. But we strolled for about 45 mins in the scorching heat, saw a couple other temples in the village and then returned to the van again sweating like crazy. It was a good confirmation that it was time to leave to go home and get back to the cool weather. The students all return home tomorrow because it is too hot for anyone to be out and about. Definitely too hot for anyone not used to this heat. A few hours later we made it to Chennai and went right to California Pizza Kitchen and had a tasty sandwich, sorry over Indian food ;) I did a speed shop in the mall and bought some fun outfits that we can use at an Indian Theme night we have to have this summer and then off to the Courtyard Marriott.

At the hotel Sam fell fast asleep while I took a shower. We rested and had dinner a few hours later and around 11 p.m. headed to the airport. We are on our way home. In Frankfurt, Germany after a 10 hour flight and now ready for our next 10 hour flight to Denver. Can't wait to be home. Can't wait to see Kendall who is picking us up at the airport and then see Nate tonight after his moto race. Ready to regroup and be with family and friends and sleep in my own bed.

It has been an amazing journey. I can't believe all that we have done since we left home in Jan. To think we did the 5 day hiking trip in NZ on this trip is crazy! So many wonderful memories. So glad we ended with Rising Star. So glad we got to see so much of India. So happy to have been humbled here, to have felt all the love we have felt here. So grateful for this experience with Sam. But also it has gotten so hot and I can't have another bite of Indian food  for a while. Time has come to head home. Miss my hubby and my girls and our friends. Need to regroup. Will head out soon enough and need to get that all planned. But it will be easy in comparison. Sam needs to get some work caught up. He has been amazing about keeping a daily journal through his blog. For me it has been so great to keep the blog as my journal where I can go on and write wherever I am and remember it all, which I don't want to forget any of it.

So grateful for this gift to have traveled and learned and experienced so much. So grateful for friends and family through the blog and social media have traveled with me and supported this journey. I am grateful for new friends made, old friends we have connected with and family that has joined along the way. It's been all that I hoped for, and more.

April 10, 2015 ( Rising Star, India)

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning. I wrote letters and did my blog and just couldn't get back to sleep. Around 9 a.m. we headed to do a micro loan tour of one of the largest "Leper Colonies" in the area with over 400 villagers. It has become RSO's model community. Many of the students at the school are from this village and there are many leprosy affected patients in this village. RSO has given out many micro loans to members of the colony and helped donate items that are needed for better sanitation and improved drinking water. They have installed Indian style toilets in all but 7 of the homes. They have helped provide  a community center which the community uses for multiple purposes including one of the micro-businesses, "Pearls With A Purpose"- making and selling necklaces. It also has a computer lab where people can use the internet and offer classes and tech support. They have helped provide a nursery school for younger children. We visited homes of those that had taken out loans for goats, for sewing shop, for a bakery that sells takeaway breads,... We saw large cement waste bins they had put in around the community for trash removal and encourages community cleanliness. We saw large cisterns of  water with fresh water and pumps to draw the water that were placed centrally so people could draw from. They have a Bintu Art School where the artists have been taught to paint with their often mangled hands. They sell this art through Rising Star and to volunteers and now in the Chennai Courtyard Marriott. It was a great opportunity to visit with people in the community. 

At one home we were visiting with a woman whose son went to Rising Star's Peery Schoo. Inside the home her daughter-in-law was with a brand new baby- 5 weeks old that was hanging in a cloth from a branch in the roof swinging. The father was resting but got up to show the baby and asked us if we knew his brother who is at RSO. She offered to have me hold the little boy, he was just darling and was all naked at first and then wanted to dress him in a shirt before I held him. He was just as cute as can be. We went to see another home and this woman had tiny baby goats. They breed goats for milk and meat. When the meat is cooked it is served as "mutton." When they take a loan for a couple of goats they will breed them until they have about 10 goats enough for food and milk and then sell the extras for income. Sam immediately went towards a few week old baby goat and held him. Fun to visit the village and interact with locals, although it was just unbeliveably hot- just sweating bullets. It had to be near 100-110 with humidity. When I came back to RSO I was so hot all I could do was make my way to our room where I sat in the cold AC room for about 20 mins. 

Sam had decided to go back into town and was going to bike. No way! He would die in this heat so I gave them money to go in a rickshaw. Sam, Bryan, Josh and Jeremy were going on a guy outing to get Lungis- the "skirts" that local men wear. A few minutes later Sam came running into our room panting,  "Divya's leaving". I was planning on meeting Divya after her last day of school today at 4 p.m. It was 2 and had finished her exams early and was waiting in the heat for me to come. Thankfully because Sam was going into town he saw her by the gate waiting and she asked him to go get me, since they can't come into the Volunteer's House. I was so grateful that she saw him. I came running out with my letter in hand that I had thankfully written so early this morning. She was happy to see me and the first time I had ever seen her sweating. It broke my heart that she had been sitting there in the heat waiting to say goodbye to me at the end of her last day of school. Her friend had already left who she rides home with. 

Divya was sad to say goodbye to Rising Star which has been another home and another family for the past 8 years. There is no Graduation or any celebration or recognition of them moving up and onward - which apparently is cultural and completely different than our culture. I could tell she was sad and it was also this transition time, unknown and unfamiliar and sad to say bye to friends that once they leave on Sunday will be hard to see again- due to long distances between colonies and villages. I gave her a hug, expressed how proud of her I was. Told her I will keep in touch with her and support her through all her schooling. I was all choked up. I tried to pull it together but couldn't choke down all the emotion I was feeling. I promised to send photos of her and her family and our visit. I had Sam snap a couple of photos and then as she held my hand and then we gave each other one last hug, she got on her bike and headed home. It was strange and sad and yet also happy moment,... since she had just completed something to be proud of. 

When I got back to the Elephant House- volunteers place- we said goodbye to Sandy and Monica who had been there for 12 days and were headed to Maldives. It was fun to be there with Sandy and to see them both so loved by the kids and Monica so happy just playing with the kids and hanging with the teen volunteers that were working there. They did an awesome lip-sync the night before and could tell she is really at her happiest here. They will have a great time. Sad to say bye to Lydia and her dad Stu. They have been so wonderful and just a joy to get to know. Lydia you could tell had grown so much and just had loved India and the kids and the whole experience. 

Playtime we all went right over to get our last real time in with the kids. As I walked over Abisha was there, cute big eyed girl. She wanted to do this hand game with me that one of the other girls had taught me too. I then started Ms Mary Mack. She didn't know it. I showed it to her and she was so enthralled, she said "I must learn this" For the next hour plus we sat on the dirt and I taught her the words while we did the hand gestures. She looked deep into me for an hour and I could see her smart mind wanting to learn this and get all the pronunciation right. Her friend sat next to her and was learning the words too. By the end of the hour I had her do it with her friend. She had it nailed by the end, with just a couple hiccups. She was so excited. Before I left she ran to me and handed me a small slip of paper and a pen and said, "please write the words for me." I said I would give it back to her at the Talent Show. They were all so excited about the Talent Show. 

After dinner we did our "take aways"-what we are taking with us as we leave. Mine was how I am grateful for this place and how it is humbling and when we are humble we are open to give and receive love and how yesterday had been this day where I felt humbled and I was open to so many experiences where I was able to give and receive love and it was the best day of the past 3 months for me. Sam said his takeaway is that "small things and bring a lot of happiness." He realized that just simply taking a photo of a child and showing it to them can bring a huge smile, playing basketball with a student can make their day, a visit to someone's home like Divya's can bring a lot of joy. 

We raced over after dinner and sharing to see the kids' Talent Show. I was asked to say an opening prayer before the meeting. The acts were totally different than what you would see in the USA for a school talent show. Boys acted out scenes from the Bible or there was also one Hindu story. They also sang songs and the most rowdy was one acting out local politicians which brought lots of laughs. The girls sand songs and danced. A couple of the dances were a bit Bollywood which was fun but no one made a noise until the end and then big applause. It was fun to see the girls all dressed in their best and rocking their saris, those that had them. After we took lots of pictures of the girls in their saris and then they asked if I will send- which absolutely I will. They don't have access to any photo development around here and photos are very prized. 

Right after we went to their dorms for story time. The big girls who I had visited with the night before asked that I come to them first. I did and we sang songs and then asked about how Amy Antonelli had liked the videos I had sent to them. They were so excited to hear that she LOVED them and had made her so happy and that she sends her love and kisses to them. We just visited and then it was time to go and I hadn't gotten to see Abisha and play one last round of Ms Mary Mack, which made me sad.  But I had slipped her the paper with the words after the Talent Show and she had given me a HUGE hug and squeeze and so had her friend. I promised them I would be back to visit and we would play Ms Mary Mack again. They said OK with a nod of - it's a deal. Love those girls. Sam had enjoyed a great visit with the boys and his favorite new friend in the dorms, Basha, who had given him a little necklace. That was so thoughtful. 

When we got back to our house we were given our awards- mine with the Handicraft Emporium supporter- since I had been their biggest buyer and seller by far. Sam's was Globetrotter Award, since he had been around the world and was still humble about it, and he played basketball each day with the boys. Following awards we did a clean up of the house and got packed. It had been a big day.