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.