The Best Day!

I have fallen in LOVE with the people here in India. I can't think about leaving them tomorrow morning because every time I do tears begin to start flowing. 

 It has been such a blessing to go to the different colonies 4 times this week. 

 There is a spirit in the colonies unlike any other. These people have show so much gratitude and love to us the second our van pulls in. 

 The colony we went to yesterday is called Barathapuram. This colony is different than the others because it is more developed. There is an art studio, a jewelry making shop, and a barber shop :) The man in the white shirt above is the barber. His name is Sunmoon. He was such an amazing man. He had the worse ulcers I have seen while I have been here. They completely enveloped both of his feet. And to think that he is standing on his feet throughout the whole day cutting hair amazes me. He was such a loving and kind man. 

 There were many people we cared for in this colony. Most of them were older. I loved watching them interact with each other. They were very patient in waiting for their turn. 

 Some of the people who come through to receive care look so tired and worn down. Once you look at them, smile, and begin talking to them it's as though a light enters their eyes. I have to remind myself when we go to these colonies that these people have been cast out from society. We are the only interaction they get with people who do not live within the colony. Holding their hand and showing affection to them means the world. 

 After the colony we went to the art studio. The moment I saw this painting I fell in love with it. I was fortunate enough to meet the man who painted it :) When he saw that I was purchasing his painting, his whole countenance changed. He couldn't stop looking at me and smiling. That is a moment I will never forget. As I held his hands I looked at them and noticed he did not have any fingers. Just little stumps where his knuckles were. I am amazed at the talent this man has and so many of the people who paint in the colony. 

 There was such a special spirit at the last colony we went to today. The man pictured above, J-raj, was so full of energy and spunk! He just kept dancing, (yes I said dancing) and singing:) When we would tell him our name he would sing and wave his hands, "My name is Allison!" That's what he was doing when we took the above photo. I will never forget this man and his love and passion for happiness and comedy in life. He told us, "I am a comedy piece." :)

 This was the smallest colony we have been to, but I loved it because we got a lot of one-on-one time to interact with the people. This woman was so beautiful! 

 This woman was so sweet and wanted to just keep being hugged, I didn't want to let go. 

 These people were so humble and kind. They continually thanked us and wanted to be with us up until the moment we drove away. 

 This is the nurse I worked with on my very first day in the colonies, her name is Nareambe. She goes to the colonies everyday, 5 days a week. What an amazing woman! 

 I could not get a photo of J-raj without his mouth open :) He was constantly laughing and singing that it was never closed! Next to him is his sweet wife. 

 Usually when we leave the colony all the people have gone inside their homes.

 That was not the case with this colony. They all stayed outside and waved to us as we drove away. I had tears streaming down my face as I felt so much love and gratitude to these amazing people. They have taught me so much about love and service. I have also learned to be grateful for all that I have. It's so easy to say "I'm grateful for all my blessings" but until you are around a people who literally have nothing, you never really appreciate all you have. 

I pray that I will always remember the many blessings I have and never doubt. There are so many that are less fortunate. It makes me sad to think there are so many people that we were not able to help while we were here. Tony, one of the other volunteers told us a story tonight as we had our last meal together. "A man walks along a beach on an Island after a hurricane. There were thousands of starfish stranded on the sand. There was one little girl throwing the starfish back into the water. The man said to her, "Why are you doing that? There are so many starfish, you will never be able to help them all." The little girl looked at him, picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean. She then said, "I made a difference to that one." 

That is the attitude I am having as I leave India. I often have asked myself how I can make a difference when there are so many people that need help. Then I see the faces of those whose feet I wash and remember that I have made a difference to them. 

Losing Myself in the Service of Others and Finding True Happiness

I knew that when I came to India it was not going to be a vacation. I was going to be working hard and tired at the end of each day. I just didn't know how tired I would actually be; however, it is the best feeling to be literally exhausted at the end of the day knowing that you spent your entire day serving others. I am loving every minute of the experience I am having here. 

 As many of you who know me, I am a worrier. I worry about things that I have realized while I have been here are irrelevant. President Hinckley said, "The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired. One of the best ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served."

 I can honestly say that while I have been here at Rising Star I have not worried about a single thing. I have completely lost myself in the service of those around me. 

 And I have loved every minute of it. 

 As I look at those I have served President Hinckleys quote makes complete sense. I feel that I have benefited more from those I have been able to serve than they have benefited from my service. 

 They have taught me to truly love and appreciate the good life I have. These wonderful people have very little and yet they still smile, thank God, and praise his name for what they do have. 

 In the colony we worked at yesterday I was amazed at how much those in the colony helped each other. There were sons helping their mothers, those who could see helping the blind, and those who could walk helping those who had to crawl on the floor to get from one station to the next. 

 Albert Schweitzer said, "I don't know what your destiny will be but one thing I know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.  

 That is the key to the happiness of the people here. They have sought and found how to serve one another. The happiness of that service and helping their fellow man is what shines in their eyes. 

 Gandhi said, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

 What I have learned in my humanitarian work from the people in Tonga and India is that true happiness does not come from worldly possessions. 

Happiness is found in your family, friends, and faith. 

 President Monson said, "Perhaps when we face our maker, we will not be asked, 'How many positions did you hold,' but rather, 'How many people did you help?"

 Coming to Rising Star has really been an answer to my prayers and I hope that I have answered the prayers of those around me. 

 President Uchtdorf said, "In the end the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance." 

 It has been hard to see the struggles that the people living in this country have to face. Why was I so blessed to live where I do and be part of the wonderful family I am when others are less fortunate? 

The answer to my question came from a quote by President Kimball, "God does watch over us and does notice us, but it is usually through someone else that he meets our needs."  

I can help be God's hand in letting these people know they are loved and cared for while I am here in India. I love the quote by Gandhi in the picture above. This wall painting is in the library at the school at Rising Star. It says "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

It's the Inside that Matters Most

 I have learned so many lessons while here in India. However; the one I continue to see each day is this: beauty is not physical, but internal. It is shown by how you treat others and will be shown in your countenance. The people I see and care for in the colonies may not be beautiful by the world's standard, however; when you hold their hand, look into their eyes, see their smile, and hear them praise and thank God that you are there, their inner beauty far out-weighs their physical appearance. To me they are beautiful both inside and out.
        Anen and I, the best driver ever. He always has a smile on his face :)                                                                                

I felt so sorry for this women, she was very sick and in a lot of pain. I wish there was more we could do to help. 

 Anen made me a balloon face that looked just like me...at least that's what he said...One thing about Indian people, they are very honest and tell you exactly what they think. I've already been told I have big feet, I'm very tall, I look like I'm 30, and my favorite "you have a water tummy" (that was said by one of the kids, needless to say I need to firm up).

                                                    See what I mean? Isn't she beautiful!

                                  Me and Nusly, I'm so lucky to work with such great volunteers!

This is a regular occurrence here in India. The most people I have seen on one motorcycle was 5! I love how the little girl in the front has sunglasses on :)

 So, I took my camera to play time today. I have a love/hate relationship with taking my camera to play time. I love that I get to take pictures of the kids so that I can remember them when I leave. I hate that they all want to grab my camera and take pictures or videos and they constantly ask to see it. It's worth it when I get cute pictures like these though, don't you think? :)

The boy in the back in the orange shirt took about 3 minutes to get all the other boys in their special poses for the picture :) I loved it! You can also see the swing-set in the back of this picture....I gave "under-dogs" for about 20 minutes to those 4 little boys today. They never get tired of them!

                                                                          So cute!!

This is the moment during playtime where I am thinking, "crap, I'm going to get lice" The little girls love to climb all over you and be all around your face, more specifically your hair. Nusly and I are super paranoid about getting lice and check each other each night. I am proud to say so far I am lice free!

I just love this little girl! She has the cutest smile. All the children here have something special about them. They all have a sweet spirit and as you play with them you get to know their different personalities. I count my blessings each day that I am here. Even though these little kids at rising star have a rough life, (compared to our standard) it is nothing compared to the life of the kids in the village and around the rest of India. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to work with these sweet spirits. They definitely have made a very strong impact on my life and I know I will never forget my experience here. 

Super!

Where has the week gone?! I can't believe I have already been in India for a week. Time is going by way to fast. I guess it's time to catch up. Friday afternoon the kids from the different grades put on a dance. It is such an awesome program they have here at rising star. There is always one volunteer who is a dance major. This volunteer teaches dance classes to each of the different grades. Sara, who is the current dance volunteer is leaving today, so they did a show of their dances. I loved it! The kids would get so into it. They really love to perform. The kids here at Rising Star are very fortunate because most kids would not have these kind of opportunities in their schools.

The little girl doing the splits in the red shirt is named Revathi. She was so excited when I showed her the picture I got of her doing the splits and now every time she sees me she wants me to show her the picture :)

 On Saturday we got to go to Mamallapuram to do some shopping, see ruins, and go to the beach. It was a fun but hot day! There were so many fun shops to go in and everyone wants you to go into their shop. They can be very convincing. One man said "Your friends told me to tell you to come in here, come on inside." It cracked me up because our friends didn't even know about that store; however, this man did have the best prices out of any of the shops!

We got to walk along the beach which was so relaxing and beautiful.

 This man was so nice and wanted a picture with all of us. In India the native language is Tamil, but they do know a few English words. The main one being "SUPER" they all say it anytime you show them a picture you took of them :) I am going to come back to the states constantly saying "super" because I'm always saying it to the kids and people here:)

 We ate lunch at this great restaurant called Moonbrakers. It was delicious! And it was nice to eat something other than rice and curry. I had this really good chicken with noodles dish.

This is Pravis. We were probably in his shop 3 or 4 times. He was so nice! He read our energies for us and anytime we would walk by he would invite us in to sit down by the fan. We did buy a lot of stuff from him....that's probably why he was so friendly to us:) But, most people in India are very friendly. They always wave at us and say "Hi" It could be because we stick out like no other...

My new favorite drink, FANTA! I will pretty much drink anything that is cold, unfortunately since it is so stinking hot here, the drinks don't stay cold for too long.

 This is called butter rock. I know, I know, it's impressive I held this rock up with one finger...:)

               These are just some of the ruins we saw. They were pretty cool to walk around and look at.

Today we drove to Chennai to go to church. The building was beautiful and brand new. There was such a sweet spirit in the church building. I love that no matter where I travel I feel the same spirit at church. It was fast and testimony meeting today and I loved hearing the testimonies of the people. Most of them spoke in English but a few spoke in Tamil. As I was sitting there I was reminded of my Trip to Tonga with the BYU-Idaho nursing group. I started having flash-backs of the trip and was overcome with emotion remembering the strong spirit I felt in the peaceful Island of Tonga.

For a moment I wanted to be back in Tonga and with the nurses I was with there. Then I remembered that we have the experiences we do for a reason and even though I had an amazing experience, one I will never forget, in Tonga, I am having a new wonderful experience in India. I love how the Lord knows us and understands our needs. I know I am here for a reason and that this trip is helping me become a better person.

      The house mothers helped us get dressed in Sarees for church :) It was fun to wear them, but very hot with all the fabric. Every time I would pass someone they would compliment me on my saree or point at me and say "Super!"

                                              Just a random picture during the drive back

Okay, this was crazy! It's one of those stick bug things! I wanted to pick it up but was too scared :) I am so excited for this coming week. We are going to be going to 4 different colonies and working with the kids 1 day, but we always have play time and family time with the kids in the afternoon :)