The past 3 weeks have been the best time I have had at
Rising Star Outreach. I had my sister here to hangout with and I started and
completed the construction project. I was also able to go up to the Taj Mahal
with my tangachi.
Church in INDIA!!!
Tangachi and Anna love!!!
I thought the 3 weeks that I spent in India last year were
the fastest 3 weeks of my life but the past 3 weeks seemed to go by twice as
fast. It was an amazing experience to have my little sister Emily serving in
India alongside me. We had some amazing times hanging out with Sanjay,
Enokelee, and Praveen. I am so happy that she was so willing to come out to
India with me and spend 3 weeks with these kids and the Leprosy patients. Emily
truly is an amazing person and I love her so much.
I’m sad now that she has left, but I’m happy that she had
such an amazing experience. I was talking to her last night on skype and we
talked about how impossible it is to explain the experiences we have here in
India. It was like my talk I had with Annie the night before I left.
Sanjay misses you Emily
Bicycle Rickshaw ride around Old Delhi!!!
I am going to try to explain what it feels like to be at
Rising Star. The second you get here it is work, work, work. When you get out
into the colonies the spirit is overwhelming and you cannot help but to be
happy. You feel the love and gratitude from the patients that you can feel no
place else (I feel that it is because this is the only time these people get to
interact with people from outside their colony that love them). At first you
think you will feel bad for the Leprosy patients because they have Leprosy but
after you visit the colonies and help treat their ulcers you realize it’s the
stigma that goes along with Leprosy that is the real disease. It’s like Mother
Teresa said, “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but
rather the feeling of being unwanted”. The people affected with Leprosy are not
sad because they have the disease, but because they are unwanted in their
community. Then you go to the school/hostel and you feel the overwhelming love
from the kids. The second these kids see the volunteers they go crazy and just
want to play with you and hug you (it will be weird going back to the US and
see kids that don’t jump and climb all over me the second they see me lol).
My sister now knows what it felt like to go back home and
not know how to describe her trip to India. Its just one of those experiences
that is too hard to describe.
Some of the coolest people ever infront of the most beautiful building in the world!!!
Over the weekend we went up to Delhi and Agra and we had a
blast. We went with some amazing tour guides Ramesh and Benson. I saw the Taj
Mahal for the second time and it was just as amazing. I was telling Emily that
it is one of those places that never disappoints. I just love hearing about the
history of it and just looking at it, because it truly is the most beautiful
building I have ever seen. We then went to Agra Fort, which is more of a palace
than a fort. It is also an awesome place to see, because a lot of its history
is tied into the Taj.
A Jain "buddha" (its not actually called a buddha lol)
"come to as, and if you think something, it be alive" Guru Gokul Raj
Gate infront of the TAJ!!!
Berlyn and Emily at the TAJ!!!!
Tangachi and Anna
We then all got on the bus to go back to Delhi to get
dropped off at the airport. It really did not feel like we were leaving.
Berlyn, Emily and I were just hanging out the whole ride and Berlyn taught us
how to do a “woodchuck face” which was amazing. Even when I got back to Chennai
I didn’t feel like Emily had left. It only hit me today when she was not there
at morning conclave.
These are the "woodchuck faces"... AMAZING
So glad you guys learnt so much and had such a great time here. :)
ReplyDeleteLife is bittersweet, but so worth living! :)
Take care. :)