Now and Forever

Wow. Where did that four months go?! I am now sitting back at home in the States wondering how the time could have possibly passed so quickly. Saturday was the last day of the semester at Rising Star, and my last day as a Promethean Spark volunteer in India. Needless to say, I was an absolute wreck saying goodbye to everything that I had grown to love and be a part of for the last few months of my life. It has felt so strange not to be in India. I feel almost out of place, and more frequently than not, my thoughts come back to all of the incredible experiences I have had, and all of the relationships that I have built. I think of the kids constantly. Their beautiful faces and sweet little voices... I will miss them and their broken English, their perfect little hugs, and their incredible capacity to love.

All in all, India has changed my life. It has changed my entire perspective and outlook on my own life and the lives of those around me. India changed the way I love and the way I give. India taught me to appreciate simple beauties. India taught me to learn to love a challenge. India taught me how to be okay with getting (and staying) a little dirty. India taught me that being exhausted from helping others is the very best tired that you can ever be. India taught me that I have the power to choose the way I live and see my life. It taught me that no matter the person, place, or circumstance, there is always hope, light, and goodness to be seen. India taught me more fully of God's all-encompassing, and empowering love for every single one of his children, rich or poor, strong or frail, lost or found.

Now and forever, my experiences, and every one of my darling children will be in my heart. Vanakkam!

A few of the many, many, things I miss most.....

The anklets that literally all girls wear.. new borns to grandmas! 

The trees! Palm, coconut, mango..... All the above :)

Steals of deals in the shopping markets!! I LOVE RUPEES..... 1 USD= 52 Rupees. Bangarang.

 

Weekend trips to the beach at Mammallapurum.

 

Bike rides through the village. And head-carrying. And turbans.

Finding random animals in my bedroom... Like frogs, squawking geckos, giant tropical spiders, and um.... completely deadly baby krait snakes......

Greeeeeeen rice feilds!

Intricate rice powder art work outside of front doors to homes!

The gems of wisdom gained from the backs of Indian trucks.... One is best avoid aids..... Indeed, one must!

Medical trips!!

Church in Chennai! Best branch ever! Chennai 1st... Holla!

Delicious Southern Indian Cuisine, fresh from the Rising Star kitchen, and made with love by my good friend, Padmini!

Walking through this door every day!

Sporting the traditional Indian attire. Shout out to sarees and churidars!

Gorgeous henna designs!

 Vadivu. Period. If I were stranded on a desert island, and could choose one person to live with for the rest of my life....... it would probably be her.

Sagayamary: "Monday morning reading class!!!!! You come soon, okay? Promise??"

Reshma: "Good mooooooorning Dance Ma'am!"

Kristaraj: "YOU SEE!!!! MY ROCKET!"

Jessy: "You not go America. You stay with me!"

Megala: "You is soooooooooooo beautiful Mommy!"

Practicing aerials with Moorthy and Vishva after Math Homework!

Dance. Parties. Holla.

Having teeny arms wrapped around me, and beautiful brown eyes looking up at me!

 Snuggling up for arm tickles/stories/songs before bed with my babies!

Star store parties!!!!

Playing/dancing around in the dining hall during playtime. :) ......And beautiful Buji baby of course!

Eating lunch with my kids!

Our absolutely incredible, amazing Life Dance Troupe! Heal the world, leaders for life!

All of my amazing Promethean Spark dance classes... Especially 3rd standard ;)

The kids, the kids, the kids.

Love and Light.

Now and Forever.

God Be With You Till We Meet Again!

-My Indian Heart-

A Day with the Medical Team

My very first time going to visit the colonies with the medical team way back in December was definitely an experience to remember. I was nervous and to be honest, a little grossed out by what I saw. I had never seen leprosy or any serious medical condition like it before, and it was a totally new concept to me. I was assigned to the oiling/foot massage station and my very first patient had open ulcers and his skin was literally falling off all over my gloves. At first, I was less than enthused to be doing the work, but after letting the reality of the situation soak in for a minute or two, it hit me. This wasn't about me. This was about them. They have had to go through a whole lot more that I could ever imagine, and the very least I could do was help them and love them once a week. Going to the colonies soon became something I looked forward to each week. It has been so enjoyable for me to be able to help heal these people and to clean and treat their wounds. Now that I am the Promethean Spark dance master, I get to go twice a week and I visit four or five colonies each month. Even though I am going to help them, I leave every single time feeling like I am the one who has been healed.

Here's a little peak into the daily workings of our medical trips.......

My very best friend in the colonies is Veila. She is 22 years old, and has an arranged marriage to her 35 year old uncle (This is pretty common in India, not many people have "love marriages"), who is a painter. She has two children, ages 4 and 2 (pictured above). They live in Walagabad, one of our most destitute colonies. After all of the medical is done on Fridays, we love to go into her teeny, one room home and dance to the radio.

I would say this is a good example of the average sized home in Walagabad.

SO pretty right?! I swear she could be an Indian model!

When coming into the clinic, the patients first pick up the file of their records and go to Dr. Suguna for a general check-up.

Then, they proceed to the blood pressure and blood sugar station. Pricking fingers was a lot easier that I expected it to be!

Next, we remove the old bandages and see what we have to work with.

We wash the feet and affected areas to sterilize and disinfect.

We cut fingernails.....

And toenails......

As you can see, the cutting was a frequent job of mine..... You wouldn't believe some of the things I've braved with this handy dandy tool.

Then comes the best part: Oil and foot massage for the dry skin!

After that, we cut away the dead, diseased skin around the ulcers.

Then medicate, and re-bandage! 

After the tough part's over, the patients head to the nurses, Nithya and Sharmila, for their medication and bandages for self care.

Here is Veila!!! My beautiful best friend from Walagabad.

More patients!

Sometimes the disease attacks the eyes and the noses. So sad!

Beauty. :)

Helping out in the colonies has truly been such and eye-opening experience for me. It has taught me so much about about loving, helping, and healing others. It has given me such a real perspective and grasp for what is important in life, and has made me SO grateful for the life I have been blessed with. It's going to be pretty tough to say goodbye! 

Rising Star's got TALENT!

The last few weekends have been a superior showcase of all the talents at Rising Star. On Saturday, March 31st, we had a spectacular Annual Day, and on Friday, April 6th, us long term volunteers decided to put on a Talent Show for the kids. These two epic days were some of my very best at Rising Star. I seriously felt like a proud mom watching all of my 193 kids show off their skills.

So Annual Day.... It's basically the grande finale of each school year where every child has the opportunity to perform for their parents on the final Parent's Day of the year (We usually have Parents Day on the last Saturday of each month, so the kids who live in the hostels at Rising Star have a chance to see their families who live in the colonies). It is one of the main responsibilities of the Promethean Spark dance master to coordinate, organize, and choreograph the whole program for Annual Day. This year, the choir sang 8 beautiful pieces, and every standard in the school performed their own dance number for their Moms, Dads, Sisters, Brothers, Aunties, Uncles, Grandparents.... All the above! Putting the show together was a pretty big and stressful job for one person, but every minute of work I put in was absolutely worth it. It was really cute to see how much fun the kids had and how proud they were to have something to show their parents. 

Two of my very favorite boys in the whole wide world getting ready to wow the crowd at Annual Day. Vishva and Moorthy are two incredibly energetic and talented boys. They starred in the 3rd standard dance piece (choreographed to I'll make a man out of you from Mulan) doing crazy flips, handstands, splits, and jumps. We had something of a ninja/fight/war training theme and it was a HIT with the whole school. Almost everybody new 3rd standard's choreography!

Some of the parents trickling in before the show to get the good seats!

Beautiful Brookie directing the choir!

Me and my lovely Tamil translator, Stephen, introducing the dance portion of the program.

All of the proud long term volunteers after a successful show! Woot woot!

Green House roomies!

Many thanks to my good friend, Nagaraj, for taking some excellent up close footage of the show!

So fun to see all of the little families getting cozy in the mango grove to eat lunch after the big performance.

Now, for the Talent Show. Much less formal than Annual Day, but definitely equal in amazingness! With so many talented kids at Rising Star, and a whole 4 day weekend for another random Indian Holiday, we had to do something epic! All the long termies, kids, and housemothers pulled together an amazing medley of talents for the show that weekend. We had everything from joke telling and poetry reading to dancing and ball spinning! One of the crowning moments of this entire show, I must admit, was a lovely little number that Kenady, Derik, Brooke, Sam and I pulled together a couple nights before the show. I think you have to have been at Rising Star for a significant amount of time to appreciate our number, because we did a spoof on Life Dance. Everyone in the school has seen most of the Life Dance numbers countless times. The long term volunteers basically have them all down by heart, so we thought we might as well put on their own show for them! Everyone just died laughing and we had a great time dressing up and pretending to dance just like the kids. :)

My Life Dance boys put together such a cute little dance! I love watching them jam out!

Even though I couldn't understand the Tamil, Moorthy's joke made me laugh SO hard!! I love this boy.

A fun compilation of Karthik's solo, Sathish's ball trick, Smooth Criminal (from the MJ fan club), and the Ma'am's legendary tap skills.

Wanna be Life Dance Troupe... Complete with the classic Indian school girl braids and LD T-shirts. :)