Indian Weekends

I officially love weekends in India.  Ok, I love everyday in India.  However, this weekend was particularly fantastic.  Early Saturday morning, we all loaded up on buses to go to a little beach town called Mamallapuram, which is about two hours away from Rising Star.  The bus ride over was quite uneventful, which is usually a very good thing in India.

When we arrived in Mamallapuram, we started our adventures at some incredible ruins.  These ruins date back to the 7th century, and are some of the most spectacular ones I've ever seen.

Here's your fun fact of the day. Apparently, there is a peculiarly wide range of artistic styles and techniques represented in some of the carvings in these ruins.  Historians have hypothesized that this was once the sight of a prestigious carving school.   They believe that some areas in these ruins were used by the students of the school to practice different styles of carving. I think their work is absolutely sensational.

We also saw Krishna's Butterball.  It is basically an enormous boulder that is mysteriously perched on this insanely slippery slope.  As I was walking up to the boulder for a picture,  I totally slipped and slid part of the way down the slope, so it is legitimately slippery.  Scientists are baffled by the boulder because it completely defies the laws of physics.  They have tried to move the boulder many times, even resorting to hooking it up to a team of elephants, but to no avail.  It's very strange and completely amazing.

After exploring the ruins for a while, we all went shopping through the town.  I am trying to pace myself with the shopping so I ended up just buying one chuddidar.  Chuddidars, along with saris, are the traditional women's clothing here.  Female volunteers are required to wear them at Rising Star, and we have a whole room full of community chuddidars.  However, I want a couple of my own to take back to America so we found a little shop where you can get them custom made for really cheap.  There is so much beautiful fabric in India.

 I didn't photograph the finished product, but here is the fabric I chose. 

After shopping (and the incredibly putrid smells of some sections of the streets in Mamallapuram), we decided it was time to hit up the beach.  We pushed through the throngs of street vendors and boarded our buses.  Those vendors are so persistent, a couple of them even climbed into our bus and we had to kick them out. This woman was knocking on our windows until we pulled away.

We headed over to a beautiful resort called Ideal Beach, and it absolutely was ideal. It was so clean and there were beautiful trees and flowers everywhere.

We went to change into swimming suits and finally were able to head down to the picturesque little cabanas and enjoy the Bay of Bengal.  I can now officially say I have gone swimming in the Indian Ocean.

We also enjoyed the gorgeous swimming pool at the resort.  It was amazing to just relax and cool down in the pool.

We ended the day by stopping to get parotha on our drive back to Rising Star.  Parotha is a type of Indian bread.  It is basically a kind of cooked tortilla that you dip in a curry sauce. It was ridiculously delicious and ridiculously cheap.

This weekend was so wonderful and was just what we all needed to recharge and prepare ourselves for this upcoming week.

In other news, the kids are back!! I'm so excited, but we haven't been able to see them yet because the housemothers need a few days to get them back into a routine.  Tomorrow is de-lousing day, though, so we will get to spend tons of time with those beautiful faces as we try to kill some of the lice in their hair.

I love and miss you all.  Thank you so much for your endless support.  Your comments on this blog, messages on Facebook, and encouraging e-mails mean the world to me.  I am so blessed and I hope you all can feel my love from the other side of the world.  

An Evening Walk

Vanakkam!

Things around Rising Star have been a touch slow this last week as we waited patiently (ok, incredibly impatiently) for the kids to arrive.  So a few nights ago,  Callie, Dane, Carl, and I decided to go on an evening walk because the weather had cooled down a bit (actually, it was still incredibly hot but I think I've acclimated a bit).   We started off exploring some of the areas of the Rising Star campus that we hadn't seen yet.

We saw this crazy incredible termite mound, as well as some lackluster enthusiasm from Carl.

We saw an incredibly beautiful area of campus that has rows of coconut trees and a volleyball net.

Then, we went out into Thottanaval, the little village outside Rising Star's gates.  One of the first things we encountered on our journey was this beat up billboard on the side of the road.  I suddenly heard a small voice yell out, "Auntie, photo!"  I turned and saw this little guy standing on the backside of the billboard, posed and ready for the cameras.  I snapped a couple of pictures as he experimented with different poses, including the classic head-through-the-hole-in-the-middle-of-the-billboard pose.

It turns out the boy's house was just a few feet down the street, so he managed to bring us along and get his two sisters and his unwilling brother involved in our photo shoot.  I was impressed with the unwilling brother's contortionist attempts to avoid the camera lens.

Here are a couple of typical houses you will find in Thottanaval.  On the left is the little boy's property.  They have a small hut way in the back and a little thatched pavillion-type place to sit in the shade in the front.  Oh, and a cow.

However, as always seems to happen in India, you find small bits of beauty amongst the dirt and poverty.  I loved the peacock carving on this window, and the bits of trash shoved in the holes almost looked like gems or stained glass.  I also saw some beautiful fabric hanging out to dry amongst the huts and stick fences.

We then were spotted by one of the Rising Star housemothers, Kala, who invited us into the home where she was staying for a few days.  We had a wonderful talk and were greeted so warmly.  I will never cease to be amazed by the warmth of the people here.  Kala and her friend sat us on the couch in the living room, while they stood or sat on the floor.  They offered us little biscuit/cookie things, and they treated us like beloved friends.  The people here are so beautiful.

Kala's friend had a daughter who was 11 months old, and I fell deeply in love with her.  She had eyebrows that had been darkened by chalk and a little bindi.  She also wore the most beautiful little baby anklets. She was so adorable and gorgeous.

India is truly incredible.  I love finding the architectural and textile beauty amongst the trash and filth here.  I love the warmth, generosity, and resilience of the people.  I love India.

Sneak Peak

Vanakkam!

Oh man, today was such a good day!  I woke up this morning and went to go take my bucket shower  (which is something I can proudly say I have now perfected).  Our awesome volunteer director for this summer, Julie, came and let me know that Dr. Susan had arranged for a few of the Rising Star boys to come to campus so I could get started on testing them.  These boys live Thottanaval, which is the little village just outside the campus gate, and they walk to and from school each day.  I was so excited that I would finally be able to get to work with some of the kids.

The four boys showed up right on time at 9 am.  From then on, my day was more than made. They are the cutest kids ever!  We introduced ourselves quickly, and I asked them what standard, or grade, they will be entering when school starts up.  I discovered the boys are brothers, Ashok (8th std.), Vijay (5th std.), Moorthy (4th std.), and Karthik (3rd std.).  We didn't even make it through our introductions before little Karthik grabbed my hand.  He held my hand the entire way as we walked to the school.  I was so surprised by how instantaneously these kids love you. Karthik knew me for about five seconds before holding my hand.  I was so touched by his little gesture, and immediately fell in love with him and his amazing brothers.

We set up our testing area in the library of the school, and I began testing Ashok while the other three started playing outside.  They came in after about two minutes because it was so hot outside. By this time, Callie (another volunteer here) had caught up with us, so she supervised the younger three as they played Temple Run on my phone. Unfortunately, my phone died after a while so I didn't get many pictures, but they will be coming. It was so great to get to spend a little one-on-one time with each boy as they took their tests.  I was so proud that they were willing to come to school during summer time and work hard on their tests.

Karthik playing around with Callie in the library. I didn't get a picture of Ashok before my phone died, but that's him behind Karthik.

Moorthy (in the front) and Vijay (in the back) waiting patiently for their turn to be tested

After a few hours, we finally got through all the testing and were able to just play and have fun.  We all went outside and the boys took turns showing us all their skills.  Moorthy started off with some incredible gymnastics.  He was flying around the field doing cartwheels and flips all over the place. Little Karthik continually was trying to imitate Moorthy, as Ashok and Vijay watched their little brothers with patience and amusement. Then it was time for Ashok and Vijay to show us their rock throwing skills.  They kept making goals for themselves, such as "this one will go over the mango trees" and "this one will go past the path".

 It was so fun to be out with the boys, watching while they ran around exclaiming, "Auntie, watch this!"  Finally, we all got too hot, so we went back in to the library where Vijay decided he wanted to play musical chairs.  When that game fizzled out, we played tag around the table in the center of the room.  Finally, we had to get the boys home so they could go eat lunch.  We all said goodbye and waved about twenty times as they walked out the gates and down the path to the village.

I had the best time playing with those kids today. It was so fun to get to know their adorable personalities.  I was amazed at their openness and ability to love freely.  These kids see so many volunteers come and go throughout the summer and the years, yet they never let the short time frame hinder their love for the volunteers.  They know they only have a few weeks with most of them, yet they don't hold back with their unconditional love in order to protect their own hearts.  It is such an incredible quality that I deeply admire.

I was impressed with Ashok's kindness and patience with his brothers.  No matter how many times he was interrupted or run into by the younger boys, he never lost his temper or showed signs of annoyance.  He and I were able to bond over the fact that we share the same birthday and some of the same friends.  I will always treasure the huge smile that lit his face when I told him I would be here for the whole summer.

Vijay had a little bit quieter disposition.  He was a touch more reserved, but had his moments of craziness.  It is very clear that he admires Ashok and looks up to him.  Whenever Ashok showed me something he could do, Vijay would show me as well.  His personality reminded me a bit of Preston, and it made me love him all the more.

Moorthy was a little fireball.  That kid had more energy than any American kid I've ever met.  He was continuously running around, flipping, and dancing.  He showed us his crazy and incredible break dancing skills, and I was so impressed. He has a big personality and lets it shine.

Karthik is the cutest little guy in the world.   From the moment he grabbed my hand, he had my heart.  He is a tiny little kid, but he is similar to Moorthy in his endless energy.  I loved watching him run around and play with his brothers with a huge smile on his face.  He kept coming up to me and giving me hugs and sitting on my lap. I love that kid.

Playing with those kids today made me so excited for this weekend when all 230 of them come back.  I'm so excited to fall in love with all of them and spend my days teaching, playing, and talking with them. I can't wait!

Countless Miracles

Vanakkam!

Britt asked me what vanakkam means, and I realized I haven't explained that on here yet.  Vanakkam means hello/welcome in Tamil.  It's one of the few Tamil words I know so far, and we use it quite frequently. 

These past couple of days have been pretty normal around here.  We spent a lot of time preparing for the medical session of volunteers that arrived here yesterday evening.  They are nursing students from BYU and will be here for the next three weeks.  We met them all last night when we had dinner on the roof, and it was a lot of fun to have some new energy and enthusiasm come in.  

I also have undertaken the project of learning our testing system at the school.  When the kids come back, we have to test all 230 of them individually to see where they are in their English language development.  The testing system is fairly complicated and takes quite a bit of time to learn.  I have spent the last couple days scouring over four big boxes of instruction and information for the different grade levels of our students.  I finally am nearly finished learning the system.  Bring on the kids!

I am so excited for those beautiful faces to get here.  I spent a little time today going through this little book that has a short biography of each child.  I didn't get through all of them, but I was heartbroken and awestruck by the ones I did read.  Every kid is described as being so happy, loving, and enthusiastic.  Yet many of those children come from such tragic backgrounds.  I was so saddened by how many of them have lost a parent to disease or suicide. These kids have seen true devastation and are still so bright and wonderful. I can't wait to meet them.

Last night at dinner, we went around the table and shared our highs and lows.  This is a Rising Star tradition and is something we will be doing every night this summer.  It is so great to hear about everyone's experiences that day and about the things they are learning in India.  

Sally Reed (the current President of Rising Star while Becky Douglas is on a mission) shared with us a story from her day.  She arrived at Rising Star yesterday morning and went to talk with Dr. Susan about how things were going.  Dr. Susan told her that there was a meeting that day with the leader of the villages surrounding Rising Star.  This meeting was really important because the feelings and attitudes of the villages and their leaders are incredibly influential in the things Rising Star is allowed to do.  Dr. Susan had met with the leader previously and went on to describe how he had made a lot of demands and requested bribes from Rising Star.  This is an extremely common thing here in India, but Rising Star refuses to participate in that kind of corruption.  Dr. Susan expressed her anxiety over meeting with the leader again, but said she had been praying for God to soften his heart.  

Several hours later, Sally said, she saw Dr. Susan come walking onto campus with a huge smile spread across her face.  Dr. Susan described her experience at the meeting.  The meeting began with the leader continuing to hold fast to his demands.  Dr. Susan said she immediately decided to just turn it over completely into the hands of God.  She said she began to feel calm and to talk to the leader with respect and intelligence.  Immediately, the leader's countenance began to change and he was able to discuss the situation calmly with Dr. Susan.  He ended up revoking all of his demands and requests for bribes, except one--that the materials for the construction happening on campus be purchased from the village.  

As soon as Sally heard the story, Dr. Susan requested they all go into the office and offer up a prayer of thanks to God.  The incredible faith that this woman lives her life by is so incredible to me.  She is not a member of my same religion, but she has almost incomparable faith. 

I am deeply amazed at all the countless miracles that are continually unfolding in this tiny corner of the world.  One of the overwhelmingly incredible things about Rising Star is the undeniable ways in which you see the hand of God in this work.  The stories of miracles around here are virtually endless.  I have heard about so many miracles that took place in the formation and expansion of Rising Star, and they continue to happen all the time.  Every volunteer you meet here has a story of some kind of miracle in their lives back home that helped them to get here. I certainly have experienced incredible miracles in my journey to get here.  This place is so special and, as Sally always says, we are the lucky ones.  Those of us who are here right now, who have been here before, who will come in the future, or who hear about and participate in the stories at Rising Star through friends and blogs--we are absolutely the lucky ones.  

As always, thank you for your love, thank you for your prayers, thank you for reading this.  I love you all!

Church in Chennai

Vanakkam!

What an incredible day this has been!  Today, me and the other four volunteers that are here right now went to church here in India.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has three small branches here in southern India.  They meet in the city of Chennai, which is about a two or three hour drive from Rising Star.

We set out on our journey at 7 in the morning.  We were accompanied by two drivers from Rising Star, and on our way to Chennai, we picked up Vennila Mary (a housemother here at Rising Star) and her two sons, Stephenraj and Michaelraj.  As we continued on our drive, I found myself struggling with feelings of doubt and uncertainty.  I am loving my time here in India so far, but today I felt slightly ill because of my anti-malaria medication, and the heat and strangeness of India seemed intensely discouraging. I kept trying to mentally pick myself up, but the uncertainty and discouragement seemed to be overwhelming.  I began to question my ability to live here and my aptitude for providing service to the children of Rising Star.

Finally, we pulled up to the church building.  The building is completely beautiful and brand new. One of the volunteers, Carl, was here a year ago and said the branch met in the basement of a warehouse. However, this year, we have a beautiful temple-like chapel in which to meet.  As we pulled into the tiny parking garage of the church, I felt a touch of relief enter my heart and mind. We walked into the wonderfully air-conditioned building and I was immediately hit by how much this beautiful place reminded me of home.  Amidst the chaos, heat, and foreignness of Chennai, we had found an oasis of peace.

All of the meetings of the day were simply incredible.  We laughed, we learned, and I felt such an intense feeling of comfort and peace of mind.  I have struggled with my testimony of the gospel and with my feelings about the church for many years, but today I felt assurance and hope.  Church here is so different than in Utah.  Here, the meetings are so interactive and intense.  These people come with a true hunger to understand and learn.  They come seeking answers, faith, and comfort.  The branch president and a couple other families discussed how they are leaving tomorrow for the Hong Kong temple. It will be their first time setting foot inside a temple. They have been struggling to save up enough money and make arrangements for months so they could go be sealed to their families.  I was so humbled by their faith and determination, and immediately felt my concerns and fears begin to shrivel in the shadow of the sincere trials the people here face every day. The spirit of the branch is so sincere and welcoming to anyone who arrives to the meetings.  It was truly a wonderful experience, and I am so excited to continue to participate in this branch.

During sacrament, one of the speakers was discussing trials and the way to overcome them. He told a story about how he was walking to his office in Chennai one day recently and felt overwhelmed by the heat of the day. As he entered his air conditioned office, he felt relief and calm.  However, he continued to describe how an air conditioned room was not the solution to his problems.  No matter how good it felt, he couldn't stay in the room all day. The only real solution was to acclimate and adjust to the heat of summer. He then used this experience as a metaphor for our lives. I was tremendously impacted by the truth of his words.  When, in life, we face the heat of the refiner's fire, God will not deliver us to an air conditioned room. That is not the solution. The only solution is for us to change, to adapt, and to continue on a better, stronger, more loving person than we were before.

This talk struck me as so profound and applicable to my time here in India. I feel like the heat and struggles here are the refiner's fire. How wonderful it would be to remain in my cool bedroom and never have to face the cruel Indian sun.  However, that is not why I'm here.  I'm here to serve, to give, and to grow.  I'm here to face the fire head on and emerge having done some good for the beautiful people here and, perhaps, for myself as well.

After this realization, my outlook turned around completely.  The heat of the day didn't seem so significant anymore. My eyes were again opened to the beauty and wonder of this incredible country and every single person who lives here. The people here are so warm.  Complete strangers on the street greet us with sincere smiles and waves as we pass them.  I no longer felt foreign and out of place, rather, I felt surrounded by beautiful friends and the welcoming spirit of our Heavenly Father.

After church, we went to the Marriott to pick up Danielle, a coordinator who flew in last night. We then went to a small grocery store for some supplies and got some pizza from Domino's.  It was seriously the best pizza I've ever had.  It was another small touch of home that brightened my spirits further. We made a final stop to get strands of jasmine to put in the hair of the short-term session volunteers that are arriving tomorrow.  The bus ride home was full of laughter, love, light, and the sweet smell of jasmine.  We dropped Vennila Mary, Michealraj, and Stephenraj off at the junction, and I felt such love for them and their incredible spirits and attitudes as we pulled away from their beautiful, smiling faces. It's funny how quickly you can love people if you open your heart to it.

Now, as I sit in my bedroom, I feel such gratitude for the lessons I learned today. I feel invigorated and excited for the kids to arrive and for school to start in the next couple weeks here. Thank you again to all of you for your love and support, and thank you to my Father in Heaven for answering my prayers and lifting my heart today.  I love you all!

Bharatapuram

I'm laying on my bed right now trying to figure out how to describe today to you all.  My new friend, Dane, and I were talking last night about India and he described India as extremely intense.  I think this is the best way to describe my day to you...intense.  Well, I suppose we should start at the beginning. 

So last night after I blogged, there was a terrific rain storm.  I was the only one here at the time because Dane was out at a colony.   But I refused to miss the opportunity to participate in an Indian rain storm, so I went up on the roof by myself and danced and sat in the rain.  It was incredible.  Then I talked to Dane for a while and went to bed by about 8 pm, I'm still battling jet lag.

This morning I woke up really early and went up to the roof to video chat with Brittany and my Mom.  I decided that today I wanted to go to a colony with Dane. Things are really slow here right now because the kids, teachers, and house mothers are on break, and there are only 3 volunteers here right now.  Things will start picking up in the next week or so, so I decided to take the opportunity to visit a colony.  

At 9 am, we set out for the Bharatapuram leprosy colony.  I love riding in the car here, there is so much to look at.  The colony was much different than I had imagined it would be.  It is actually the most well developed colony in the state of Tamil Nadu.  There is still rampant poverty and filth, many of the residents live in little thatched huts like this one.

The insides of these huts are really dark and small.  They have dirt floors and not much else.  However, some of the people in the colony live in much more developed houses that are so beautiful in their vibrant colors and architecture.

I was fascinated by the houses. Many of them are so dirty and surrounded by poverty, yet it doesn't take much looking to notice the beauty underneath all of that.

I had some incredible experiences today, as well as some challenging ones.  The whole day, as I mentioned, was intense.  Our purpose for going to the colony was to ask some of the residents about some toilets Rising Star helped build in their yards.  They are called eco-toilets, and they seem to be little more than a latrine.  I'm not sure how they work, but the residents aren't using them because they are inconvenient and they smell bad.  We went to try to understand what we could do to make the situation better for these people.  

One of the first people we talked to was an old woman.  She was sitting alone in her little hut.  As we approached, I waved to her and smiled.  She returned with a big smile and a traditional Indian head bow.  We discussed her eco-toilet and the problems she had with it.  As we turned to leave, she burst into tears.  I looked back, startled and concerned.  Our guide/translator, Zacharias, spoke to her for a moment and told us that her son had recently died, and she was struggling to cope with the grief and lonliness.  I wanted so badly to sit with her and ease some of her pain, but Zacharias ushered us on our way to the next home.  

After visiting that home, we turned and walked back the way we came.  We passed the old woman and she called to us.  I looked over and she was sitting on her steps with a framed photograph of her son.  I walked up and reached for the photo.  The woman still had tears streaming down her face and I couldn't let her sit there alone.  So I held the photograph of her son in one hand, and her hand in the other.  As soon as took her hand she kissed it, put it to her forehead, and just cried. 

 I only was able to sit with her for a few moments because my little group was progressing too far down the road, but I will never forget that woman. Her pain was so tangible and her need for human contact so strong.  I also will never forget the feeling of walking away from her, aching to be able to do more to ease her suffering, yet having a profound realization that she is one of God's children.  The comfort and peace I can give her is so limited and insufficient, yet she has an Almighty Father who knows her heart and her burdens and will be with her always.  He knows she is alone in her hut, struggling with the deformities and challenges caused by leprosy, and coping with the death of her only remaining family member. He can ease her sorrows and can stay by her side when I cannot.   This thought provided me with such comfort as I walked away from her home with a fervent prayer for her in my heart.

We continued visiting homes and talking with people for a long time in the extremely hot Indian sun (it was 102 degrees today).  Around 1:00, when we had been out for about five hours, I was suddenly hit with a huge wave of dizziness.  I walked down the path just a bit to a shady spot to sit down while Dane, Zacharias, and Arugamum (our driver) continued to the next home.  Within a minute, there was a small Indian family standing by my side.  The mother pulled out her phone and started taking pictures of me.  I have been getting a lot of stares today because I'm a fair-skinned, blonde-haired American wearing traditional Indian clothes in rural, southern India. However, she was the first person to want photographic evidence of  my presence there.  Soon, a small crowd of about 10 or 15 people were gathered around me. A man who spoke a little English began asking me questions about where I was from and things like that.  Quickly, my little group joined me and asked if I was ok.  I told them I was feeling dizzy,  and instantaneously I started vomiting.  A lot. On the side of the dirt road of a leprosy colony.  Surrounded by a ton of people staring at me.  It was not my finest moment.  Luckily, we hadn't eaten for a long time so it was just water, but still. Arugamum went and got the car and I sat with the air conditioning blowing for a bit, which made everything better. TII (this is a saying around here, This is India--TII.  It basically is a tribute to the fact that nothing goes according to plan here and we all just learn to go with it).

I am so impressed and humbled with the resilience and unconditional kindness of the people here.  Yesterday, our driver, Shankar, bought me a water bottle on the way to Rising Star with no questions asked.  He makes so little, yet used some of his precious money to buy water for a girl he just met.  Today, one of the men we met invited us into his home.  We sat on his little couch as his wife made us this delicious juice stuff with their purified water.  Then she approached me with a beautiful orange flower and a little heart-shaped clip.  She clipped it in my crazy, messy, sweaty hair and smiled. 

 I was so touched by her small acts of kindness for a complete stranger.  She has so little, yet offers so much to those around her.  This is an  amazing lesson to learn here.  I hope to learn to love as openly, freely, and quickly as the beautiful people here in India.  

As always, I am left feeling blessed, grateful, and extremely humbled.  I will never again take for granted the blessings of family, friends, air conditioning, and small tokens of beauty in a chaotic and difficult world.  Thanks for sticking around through this insanely long post.  Your support, comments, and love mean the whole world to me.  I love you all.

Vannakam. 

Rising Star

Today I finally made it to Rising Star.  I can't believe I'm here!

This morning, I was picked up at the Marriott in Chennai by one of Rising Star's drivers, Shankar.  He was so great and has the biggest smile.  He helped me get my bags into the car and we started our 3 hour drive to the Rising Star campus.  Let me tell you, Chennai is crazy!  I have never been so utterly fascinated by looking out a window.  I found myself wishing I had several more sets of eyes so I could see everything at once.  I took a few videos, but am not very tech savvy and can't figure out how to upload them.  But here are some pictures.

I wish you could all be here to see the incredible sights of  India, these pictures just don't do it justice.

We drove for a while before Shankar pulled off on a tiny, bumpy side road.  We traveled down the path a ways and came to an incredibly beautiful house with gorgeous floral landscaping.  Out of the house walked Dr. Susan, the resident doctor here at Rising Star.  She hopped in the car and we were again on our way.

Dr. Susan was a fascinating person to talk to.  She has so many beautiful insights about life, leprosy, politics, and India.  I was so grateful to have a chance to sit and talk with her one on one.  She was discussing leprosy and how it is one of the only diseases that devastates every aspect of a person's life.  She said leprosy is one of the cruelest diseases because it is not fatal, but it destroys life.  It affects people physically by causing deformities, mentally by removing the victim's chance at an education, emotionally by destroying their sense of worth and dignity, sexually by affecting their hormones, spiritually by causing them to believe they are cursed by God, and socially by casting them out of society.  It absolutely obliterates every aspect of the victim's life.  It was so humbling to discuss the true effects of this terrible disease.

She also said something that I thought was very profound.  We were discussing Rising Star and her time here, and I asked her if she enjoyed it. She slightly nodded, but looked thoughtful.  Then she said, "You know, God sent me here. To do this work.  So, it doesn't matter if you enjoy it or not, when you do what God wants, you are happy." I thought that was incredibly beautiful.  I was struck by her faith and insight.  I feel like God has sent me here as well.  So, regardless of whether my day is wonderful or hard, I believe this experience will provide me with joy.

Soon, on our drive, the scenery began to change.  Crowded streets and piles of garbage turned into open rice fields and towering palm trees.  The landscape of rural southern India is so beautiful.  It is dry and hot, but there are thick patches of jungle and a few rolling hills.

Finally, we made it to Rising Star.  Dr. Susan had to go meet a group of sponsors that were coming through,  so Shankar showed me my room in the volunteer hostel called the Elephant House.  I have just been wandering around, exploring the campus for the last little while.

The elephant of the Elephant House

The courtyard of the Elephant House

My room

We have traditional Indian squatter toilets that you see on the left.  On the right is the shower.  You fill up the big bucket with water from the spout on the wall, then use the smaller one to scoop some out and shower.

The kitchen

Views from the roof of the Elephant House

So far, my time here in India has been fantastic. I'm jet-lagged, exhausted, extremely hot, and covered with a thick layer of sweat. But the overwhelming emotion I feel right now is gratitude.  I wouldn't be here without the endless support of my Mom, Dad, Brittany, Braden, Kimmy, all of my cousins, and everyone else who offered me encouragement and support.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all.