Little update and all about the CARE foundation.

Sooooo I have been procrastinating this post for far too long. I just have no motivation to do it. Yep. That's present tense. But it must be done, or I know I would regret it. So here we go.

What's happened since Friday.....ay ay ay, I don't even know where to begin. Well Friday I went on medical, which was AMAZING! But I'll write more on how much I LOVE medical later. 

So Saturday is our day off from rotations and we got to go on a little trip! We went to a beach city called Mahabalipuram and it was so fun! We went shopping for a while, went to lunch, and then went to the beach! 

Such a cute little town! 

While down at the beach, Mary and I were approached by a group of men in. . . Their underwear. Some had on t-shirts, so we weren't even sure if they had underwear on. AWKWARD. 

And then one of my favorite pictures of all time was taken. . . . . . 

Yep.  

(Photo cred to Mary). 

Have no fear, he does have panties on, but the water makes him look naked. 

SERIOUSLY HILARIOUS. (Sorry if you find this offensive). It makes me laugh every single time. EVERY TIME. 

I wanted to make it my cover photo on Facebook, but thought they might be taking it too far. 

Anyway. 

So after an eventful day at the beach it was time to head back to Rising Star! That was basically all we did on Saturday.

Sunday was another amazing day. 

Sunday morning we (volunteers and some coordinators) packed up the cars and drove two hours to attend church in Chennai. It was so cool. 

The chapel there looked kind of like a mini temple. So beautiful! 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

In Tamil and in English! 

One of the girls here at RSO named Ambiga gave her first talk in Sacrament meeting. She is sixteen years old and hasn't been baptized yet. She's amazing. Her talk was on faith and personal progress and she did such a good job! It was so cool to be there for her talk. 

There were two other speakers from the branch that day, and it was honestly one of the most spiritual Sacrament meetings I have been to in a long time. The Spirit was so prevalent and it was a great reminder to me that the Church is true no matter where you go! It was an amazing Sabbath. 

Monday was another super day. (Super is like everyone's favorite word here). 

My group went on medical out to one of the leprosy colonies. It was of course, amazing. 

The first time I went on medical (last Friday) I was at the oiling station. The oiling station is all about pampering the leprosy patients. I'd pour a little bit of oil in my hands and then rub it on the patients foot and calves. Leprosy can cause a lot of joint pain, so the patients love th oil massages. People with leprosy are cast out of society and are seen as "untouchables," thus another reason they love the massaging. When we go out to the colonies we are encouraged to use a lot of physical touch; hold the patients' hands, brush their hair out of their eyes, rub their back, and do whatever we can to make them feel loved. 

One lady there was so sweet. She was in a lot of pain during the debriefment (cutting away the dead skin around the ulcers), so I sat down and held her hand. Klorisa, the medical coordinator told me that this lady loves when you sing or hum to her. I started humming to her and rubbing her back. She leaned into me and I just felt so much love. She didn't speak English, and I don't speak Tamil, so communicating with words was next to impossible, but words weren't necessary. 

SO MUCH LOVE. 

She was so sweet. And of course, I wanted to take her home with me. 

Every single patient I have met in the leprosy colonies have been SO happy. They are so happy, so loving, and so grateful for the treatments, and so grateful for everything they have. It's so inspiring. 

It really makes every thing else seem so trivial and petty. 

They are also all so beautiful in their own way. 

I wish I could speak Tamil so I could get to know each one of them on a different level. Someday I want to come back here with a personal translator and learn everything I can about these people. 

I love going on medical! I'm going on medical tomorrow and I can't wait! 

Tuesday I was on construction....hip hip hooray. We moved sand.

Wednesday was yet again, another AMAZING day. The Indian government kind of makes holidays whenever they want, so Wednesday was a random holiday! So we took a little trip to another organization here in India called the CARE foundation. It's run by a super man named Peter. 

CARE foundation works with children who were forced by their parents to beg on the streets. These parents do not take care of their children. They do not bathe them, they hurt them to make them cry, and they do not feed them. Begging in India is illegal, but per usual, it isn't really enforced. So Peter finds children on the streets that are begging and he goes to their parents and basically gives them an ultimatum. Either the children come to live at the CARE foundation, or if he ever sees them begging in the streets again, he will turn the parents in to the police. 

Once the children are at the CARE foundation, Peter and his staff observe them for six months and basically allow the children to do whatever they want. Since the children were beggars, they have never had any structure, so if they are forced to have structure then they will run away. A lot of the children also suffer for psychological disorders from being beaten and neglected by their parents.

After the six month observation, the children are then enrolled in schools around the area. The CARE foundation is able to put the children through school, provide them a happy place to live, and even supports them and funds their college education. AMAZING, right??

So Wednesday we visited the CARE foundation and it was so much fun. The kids there are so happy and oh so sweet. 

Everyone wanted their fingernails painted. 

LOVE LOVE LOVE this sweet girl. She refused to tell me her name and then would not let go when it was time to leave. 

This girl is the most beautiful little girl I think I have ever seen. She must have gotten lice, thus the shaved head, but regardless. She is beautiful. 

I took so many pictures of her. . . These are just a few. She was so giggly and sweet. 

Here's all of us, volunteers, coordinators, and the children of the CARE foundation. So much color and so many little personalities. Love it. 

It was an amazing day working with another amazing program.

I am just feeling so blessed to be here. 

There are so many children in India in need and it breaks my heart. But working with such amazing programs brings me hope that there is change happening and people are making a difference. 

I LOVE INDIA. 

End of story. 

Okay bye! 

Love,

Kir