A Quick Catch Up...

Derek, Kim, and I in Bethel Nagar colony

Wow! Things have been so busy!! I have not blogged in over a week, so I thought I would do a quick catch up. This past week has been a stressful, yet very rewarding week. Last Monday we got to go with Dr. Susan to the Bethel Nagar colony..it was so wonderful to be back in the colonies! I love these beautiful people; I love the warmth and love they share and the joy they bring to me.

The first volunteer session is all nurses/ med students. Dr. Susan has compiled a schedule of facilities for these volunteers to work at. So we spent Tuesday and Wednesday going around and meeting the doctors/ head of each of these facilities so that we will be familiar with them when we bring the volunteers. Some of the places we went to were a catholic hospital, a birthing center, a new colony we have not yet extended our care to, Ramachandra hospital in Chennai, and a school that rescues the begging orphan children from the streets. We spent quite a bit of time in the car, but I never tire of looking out the window here. The area I live in here in India is so beautiful!! On Wednesday we spent most of the day in Chennai, and we even found a Subway to eat at. I don't think a sandwich ever tasted so delicious.

School for rescued beggars...They didn't want us to leave

 Thursday we spent the day getting things ready around the volunteer hostel. We were busy little buggers getting things put together, moving bunk beds, making name tags, and putting the final touches on everything. At one point these two kids, Michaelraj (10)and Stephenraj (13) came and visited us. These boys  are two of the many Rising Star kids. Their father passed away on New Years, so they now live on the Rising Star campus. They have been helping us all week and have become dear friends. Stephenraj surprised us with a treat called "mango dream" while we were working. He and michaelraj cut up the mangoes, set up the kitchen table with plates, poured the water from our cold water bottles into glasses, and even put a few milk-bikis (indian cookie) on each of our plates. It was the sweetest act of kindness. I stand in awe at them...Stephenraj is my hero and I hope to be as thoughtful, self-sufficient, and kind as he is! I can't believe he is only 13!

Derek and I have come to spend some time in the evenings sitting on the roof under the stars, chatting, de-stressing, and soaking up India. We have a friend, we named him Junior, who always comes and visits us. Junior is a firefly; its just him & he always manages to swing by on the evenings when it has been a particularly stressful or hard day. I love fireflies and as silly as it may sound, he brightens my spirits when I am exhausted emotionally, physically, and mentally. Thursday night while we were talking on our yoga mats we actually ended up falling asleep...we slept on the roof. I find it funny that my most comfortable nights rest was on a yoga mat on a concrete floor. It was so peaceful...but I woke up with far too many unwanted mosquito bites. We are determined to sleep up there again, but next time with mosquito nets... 

Friday was a fun day! We had a retreat for all of the Rising Star Family: the staff, drivers, teachers, housemothers, cleaning ladies, volunteers...you name it!  We went to Mammalapurum, a beach town about 2 hours away. It was fun, very hot, but fun.My favorite part of the day was seeing the staff having so much fun outside of RSO. It made me happy to see them having a good time and enjoying themselves. We first went on a boat ride, then we went to a crocodile zoo, then to lunch, and then we shopped. It was super!! The crocodile zoo was interesting; I think it is funny how cuddly they with one another, but how viscous and dangerous they are. Here are a few pictures:

Snuggle time!

Workin the shades...

KimmiK

The Wonderful Pam and Jim Gates!

Sportin' the  huge good lookin' life jackets

 

A video for your enjoyment by the wonderful Kenna! 

Saturday was a great day...why?? Because the kids came back!!! It was a long day getting them all registered and settled back into their rooms with their housemothers. The bus went and picked up the kids from the colonies along with their parents, they would come in waves throughout the whole day. It was neat to see the kiddos come with all their life possessions packed into a tiny backpack. It was also hard for me to see them say goodbye to their parents. I got emotional at one point watching a mom saying goodbye to her son as I thought about what a sacrifice it is for these parents to send their kids to Rising Star. When contracted with leprosy they lose everything--homes, jobs, money, societal approval, and often times even family. All they have left is their children; the one thing they have to bring them joy they send to us. What an act of sacrifice and faith these parents are making...they are giving up what they love most, for the hope that these children, through Rising Star, will be given greater life...full of opportunities, education, health, and success. It is so good to have the kiddos back. To finally have my arms around them and to remember their names, and have them remember mine brings an overwhelming amount of joy to my heart. I love them so very much. Every Saturday night we have a movie night for the kids where we project a movie outside for them to watch. We watched how to train your dragon...I became a mattress and several of the kiddos fell asleep on my lap. I love it!

On our way to pick up the volunteers with our super balloons!

Sunset from the roof during dinner

As of today, Sunday, the volunteer program has officially begun! We woke up this morning at 5am in order to leave campus by 6 to then embark on the two and a half hour journey into Chennai. This first session is a medical session and majority of them are from the BYU nursing program, so they requested that they be picked up before church so they could attend with us. On the way to the Marriot (where we pick up the volunteers) Vel, Shankar, and Vikram decided to stop and get balloons at a market to decorate the Tempo (aka Van) to welcome the volunteers. It was so funny, these guys are the greatest! We also stopped and got jasmine to put in the girls' hair as a "Welcome to Rising Star" type of thing.  Church was wonderful! Vikram works for Rising Star and he came to church with us today...and even better...we had a baptism today and he wanted to stay after to watch it. It was neat to see him experience church for the first time. After church we all headed back to Rising Star where we got the volunteers all settled in, gave a tour and gave orientation, then we ate dinner on the roof! As I mentioned earlier, the roof is my favorite place, so it was really great to finally have all of the volunteers here, eating together on the roof as the sun set. It doesn't get much better than that! Oh wait...maybe it does...because after dinner we went to family time with the kids. I went to see my family from last year & when I walked in they all ran around me and grabbed my legs with those huge brown eyes and precious smiles looking up at me saying "Kimmy Aunty! Kimmy Aunty!". They were so happy I remembered all of their names. Ah!! It was so wonderful to be with them again tonight. Tomorrow the craziness begins...Bring it on!!

Sending much love from India!