Our official blogger ate something she shouldn't have last night and she has been paying for it all day. Therefore, mom gets to blog tonight. We started out this morning being divided up into two groups (Scorpions and Cobras). Our family is in the Cobra group and we were assigned to work in the colonies today. Tomorrow we will be in the school tutoring the kids. The colony was heart wrenching. If a member of a family contacts leprosy either their family or their community kicks them out and they must move to a colony. Sometimes the family moves with them and they all must go. You never want to refer to them as lepers but rather being leprosy afflicted. We had about an hour wait for the other medical van which brought the doctor and nurses so we just walked around and greeted the people. Most were glad to see us and most of them loved having their photos taken. Most had missing fingers and toes and many had large open wounds that needed to be cleaned. We met one family where the grandfather who was leprosy afflicted told us that his grandson had been having some heart pains and they kept him home from school to see the doctor. His mother was there and she was in tears as was the little boy. There was no question how much she loved her boy and how worried she was about him. He did get to see the doctor and we are anxious to find out what she had to say.
Jake was the superstar today. He took blood pressures and glucose sticks with everyone who came in. He was by far the busiest one of all of us. He was loving it. Rick and I and Dianna Anderson (yes, Dave & Carolyn, the same Dianna Anderson in your ward) were on washing and oiling duty. They would come and sit down and Rick and Dianna would wash their feet with antiseptic and water, put a bootie on them to keep their foot clean, and then they would move to the next station for oil. I poured oil on their leg and massaged it in. Several looked at me and put their hands to their hearts and smiled. Who doesn't love a good foot massage! They then moved on to the nurse who cut out skin and other icky things (maggotts, etc.) that get in the wounds and bandaged them up. It was an amazing experience. The volunteer director that went with us has such a good repore with these people. She loves them so much and they love her back.
When we got back, we went over to the school to play with the kids. They have created a dance group that is amazing. These kids were good! They work hard during their day and it is the only real outlet for the older ones to have some fun. After dinner, we went back over to the dorms and we were assigned a group to visit with. We try to calm them down by reading with or to them or play a quiet game. They are crawling all over us, holding our hands, rubbing our faces, laying their heads against our shoulders. We feel loved. Rick and I are the oldest ones there and many of them refer to us as grandma and grandpa. I look into those little brown faces and my heart just wants to burst. We get to spend more time with them tomorrow.
It was a happy day....
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| Madie's and my dorm room. Rick and Jake are in the boys' section. |
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| Our bucket shower. |
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| Our squattie potties. |
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| The Chudidar Room |
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| My leprosy afflicted friend. |
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| Jake's buddy. |
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| ......and mine. |
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| A mama getting her little girl ready for the day. |
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| A mother and her newborn baby boy. |
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| Ready for the day. |
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| The grandpa, grandma and mom of the little boy who was ill. |
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| The nurse cutting out wounds. |
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| Jake, doing his thing. |
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| At a Hindu temple on top of a mountain. |
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| Washing their feet. |
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| Oiling their feet. |
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