Today was such a meaningful day. It was a real day. A day where I felt I made real connections with everyone I was lucky enough to come into contact with. It truly felt like God was in charge of this day.
It was an emotional day for many, it being the last day for volunteers that have been in the country for months. It was hard for people to say goodbye, some had regrets and others had very few. During reflection tonight when people talked about their “highs and lows” and those that were leaving spoke of their takeaways. It was fascinating really to see how Rising Star has changed people from the inside out. How the more you give the more you get.
There is one girl here with her father from Northern California. She was so open to this place, to this experience and she has grown exponentially- her heart, her mind, and friendships, truly her spirit. You can tell that the burdens of high school have weighed her down and a question of who can or should I be, and coming to India I think the lightbulb went off,… I can be anyone I chose to be.
Another girl expressed her regrets for letting her own nervousness get in the way of reaching out to others at the colony today and how she wished she had been brave and bold. And another girl who has been with her family here for almost a year had regrets that she hadn't been more involved with the kids. She hadn't gone to play time, hadn't participated in as many of the daily service opportunities there were and here she was leaving and realized she had missed out on all these gifts, these opportunities. These are great lessons to learn when you are young and I can see will impact their days to come.
I sat next to the Doctor that works with Rising Star and was amazed at what an interesting woman and accomplished doctor she was. She has done so many extra years of training than I believe is even required here in India. She has a passion to serve others and you can tell by her calm and loving care. As I talked more to her today and asked her more questions, I found that she has with her family an orphanage they look after and sponsor 35 children there. She also does other medical service. She only told me because I was digging deep and as I did I was so touched by the difference she is quietly making but deeply making in the lives of many.
At the colony today where we ran a medical clinic we met Sarahl. She is amazing. She has lost almost all fingers and most of her toes. She came off gruff at first when she couldn’t pronounce my name "too hard" but then as soon as we started carrying for her she was just happy, happy to give hugs, take photos, happy to show us love and happy to talk and engage. She has huge ulcers on the bottom of her feet caused by the effects of leprosy. Despite her pains and afflictions she has a smile and a personality the size of Texas. She just taught me about getting out past our suffering and chose happiness. It was inspiring and enlightening.
It was an emotional day for many, it being the last day for volunteers that have been in the country for months. It was hard for people to say goodbye, some had regrets and others had very few. During reflection tonight when people talked about their “highs and lows” and those that were leaving spoke of their takeaways. It was fascinating really to see how Rising Star has changed people from the inside out. How the more you give the more you get.
There is one girl here with her father from Northern California. She was so open to this place, to this experience and she has grown exponentially- her heart, her mind, and friendships, truly her spirit. You can tell that the burdens of high school have weighed her down and a question of who can or should I be, and coming to India I think the lightbulb went off,… I can be anyone I chose to be.
Another girl expressed her regrets for letting her own nervousness get in the way of reaching out to others at the colony today and how she wished she had been brave and bold. And another girl who has been with her family here for almost a year had regrets that she hadn't been more involved with the kids. She hadn't gone to play time, hadn't participated in as many of the daily service opportunities there were and here she was leaving and realized she had missed out on all these gifts, these opportunities. These are great lessons to learn when you are young and I can see will impact their days to come.
I sat next to the Doctor that works with Rising Star and was amazed at what an interesting woman and accomplished doctor she was. She has done so many extra years of training than I believe is even required here in India. She has a passion to serve others and you can tell by her calm and loving care. As I talked more to her today and asked her more questions, I found that she has with her family an orphanage they look after and sponsor 35 children there. She also does other medical service. She only told me because I was digging deep and as I did I was so touched by the difference she is quietly making but deeply making in the lives of many.
At the colony today where we ran a medical clinic we met Sarahl. She is amazing. She has lost almost all fingers and most of her toes. She came off gruff at first when she couldn’t pronounce my name "too hard" but then as soon as we started carrying for her she was just happy, happy to give hugs, take photos, happy to show us love and happy to talk and engage. She has huge ulcers on the bottom of her feet caused by the effects of leprosy. Despite her pains and afflictions she has a smile and a personality the size of Texas. She just taught me about getting out past our suffering and chose happiness. It was inspiring and enlightening.
This afternoon at 4 I went to say hello to Divya and Keerthika since I don’t get to see them much since they don't stay at the school and live in the villages. I could tell Divya just wanted to be with me and was sad that we may not see each other. I asked for her home mailing address so I could send her letters. She wasn't sure what it was, can't imagine they get many letters to their home. But, she wanted to figure it out. I told her we would stay close. She just wanted to hold my hand. It really touched me and so grateful for the love she has shown me. Tomorrow she takes her last exam and them there isn't any graduation service, which I wish there was but there will be a talent show which I am hoping she will attend. I told her I would meet her after school in the lobby again. Love her.
Today I helped Monica finish the mural that we did on the wall at Rising Star. Sam and his new friend came out to help when I asked them and put away what they were doing to be a part of it. I also saw Sam work well today doing a job that he felt wasn't important or significant in terms of giving medical care but as the water manager he would take the basins after patients feet had been cleaned in them and toss the water and sterilize the buckets and then bring them back to the person doing feet. I told him each job is important and he did it well. He didn't wander off or stop working, he stayed on it and was so proud of him. He also came and visited with all the patients with me and enjoyed meeting and engaging with them and didn't seem scared off a bit by their illness or deformities on many of them. He was just darling. He also stepped out and became closer friends with one of the boys here volunteering. He made it to play time and to story time tonight and engaged with many of the boys playing basketball and visiting in their rooms at night. I am incredible proud of the love and respect he has shown all those he has met here.
Today many of the girls were doing crafts and selling them to the volunteers. Since it was most people's last chance to play with the kids they went to the playground. There are only 18 of us and these kids have been making crafts all year to sell and had set up a booth and I was just so impressed. I came to the area in the school where they were selling and just bought tons. It was fun to wrangle others up to their booth that were walking by and do sales pitches on them since the girls were shy at first and then they got more bold as they saw me hard selling small crafts as ornaments and bracelets for friends.... It was so fun to see them loosen up and become more chatty and fun to engage with them. Definitely their biggest customer and loved every minute of my shopping and chatting with the girls about their creations and pitching them to anyone else. Such a fun afternoon with them. The funds from the crafts were going to go to purchasing more materials.
Tonight I was able to go to several rooms in the girls dorm. Loved visiting with the older girls- around 14-16. They were so fun to chat with and they wanted to see a photo and when I was flipping though it I went by a photo of Amy. The girls immediately picked up on it and they went into a frenzy!!! Mommy Amy!!! They were so excited it was incredible. It came to me that we should send her videos of the girls all expressing their love to her. She was with them over 5 years and she loved each one of them so much. As I took the video it was just pure love flowing from these girls. I can't wait for Amy to get these videos.
My heart is full. I feel so blessed for this most memorable day.
Today I helped Monica finish the mural that we did on the wall at Rising Star. Sam and his new friend came out to help when I asked them and put away what they were doing to be a part of it. I also saw Sam work well today doing a job that he felt wasn't important or significant in terms of giving medical care but as the water manager he would take the basins after patients feet had been cleaned in them and toss the water and sterilize the buckets and then bring them back to the person doing feet. I told him each job is important and he did it well. He didn't wander off or stop working, he stayed on it and was so proud of him. He also came and visited with all the patients with me and enjoyed meeting and engaging with them and didn't seem scared off a bit by their illness or deformities on many of them. He was just darling. He also stepped out and became closer friends with one of the boys here volunteering. He made it to play time and to story time tonight and engaged with many of the boys playing basketball and visiting in their rooms at night. I am incredible proud of the love and respect he has shown all those he has met here.
Today many of the girls were doing crafts and selling them to the volunteers. Since it was most people's last chance to play with the kids they went to the playground. There are only 18 of us and these kids have been making crafts all year to sell and had set up a booth and I was just so impressed. I came to the area in the school where they were selling and just bought tons. It was fun to wrangle others up to their booth that were walking by and do sales pitches on them since the girls were shy at first and then they got more bold as they saw me hard selling small crafts as ornaments and bracelets for friends.... It was so fun to see them loosen up and become more chatty and fun to engage with them. Definitely their biggest customer and loved every minute of my shopping and chatting with the girls about their creations and pitching them to anyone else. Such a fun afternoon with them. The funds from the crafts were going to go to purchasing more materials.
Tonight I was able to go to several rooms in the girls dorm. Loved visiting with the older girls- around 14-16. They were so fun to chat with and they wanted to see a photo and when I was flipping though it I went by a photo of Amy. The girls immediately picked up on it and they went into a frenzy!!! Mommy Amy!!! They were so excited it was incredible. It came to me that we should send her videos of the girls all expressing their love to her. She was with them over 5 years and she loved each one of them so much. As I took the video it was just pure love flowing from these girls. I can't wait for Amy to get these videos.
My heart is full. I feel so blessed for this most memorable day.
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