Warning: This is going to be a very long post so if you get bored, just stop reading.
Today was such a great day! Medical days are always my favorite. I love going to the colonies and working with the people. They are shunned from their community and their family and forced into a leprosy colony. We are the only human contact they get so when we come to visit it brings the biggest smile to their face. These people are filled with so much love and they are so thankful for the service we do. I never thought i would actually see leprosy with my own eyes, and honestly I was a little scared that it would gross me out or that it would be super sad but I was actually filled with so much happiness and love for these people. Today I was in charge of cutting of the old bandages so that the ulcers could be washed and rewrapped.
(ps. I have so many pictures from today that I had to make most of them into collages so that they all would fit on this post. Sorry they are all so small.)
My group is AMAZING! We have all become such good friends and have so much fun together
Top Right: The girl in the middle is Amy, our medical leader. She is so great and always keeps us laughing throughout the day. Middle right: Everyone in india says Super! and puts their hand up like that. It is one of the only english words the Indians know so everything good or exciting is Super!
When we get to the colony we unload the medical van and set up the room. There are many different stations and we all choose a spot and get to work. When the patient first come in, they get their blood pressure, pulse, and glucose checked. Next they go talk to the doctor for a second and she asks them about their ulcers. Then they go to the first chair and have their bandages cut off. Then they move down the assembly line and have their ulcers washed, cleaned, oiled, and rewrapped. Then they go see the nurse for medication to take home. Leprosy also affects their eyes so they get their eyes cleaned out and drops put in. The goal is to help the people improve their quality of life and help them get rid of their ulcers. The nurses teach them how to take care of themselves at home so that they dont get worse in between our visits. If they take their medication and keep the ulcers clean, it is possible to actually be cured of leprosy.
Bottom right: This is one of the rising star nurses that comes with us to the colonies. She is amazing!
Anan (the guy on the right) = The most amazing bus driver a person could ever ask for. Anan is one of the reasons i love india so much. He is the medical bus driver/tour guide/fill in dad for the volunteers. He drives us to medical, stays with us and helps with anything anyone needs while we are there, then chooses an adventure for us. The first time we had medical, he decided to take us to the beach for a boat ride and tour of the ruins. Today he wanted to take us to the zoo. So of course we were excited. We got to the zoo and he told us that he was going to rent bikes for us to ride around the zoo. Let me tell you that bikes are the way to go. We had so much fun and im pretty sure the other groups are jealous that they didnt get to ride bikes in the zoo. Anan always makes sure everyone is having a good time and always makes sure we are safe. He also makes sure that we are not doing anything that is not socially acceptable here in india (there are a lot of things we try to do that i guess are not socially acceptable here so i am very glad he is there to keep us in line). He treats us all like we are his daughters and i can tell that he really does care about us. Every time i see Anan around campus or when we get on the bus he says, "Hi Morgan! (with a big high 5) are you doing super today?" Then i say yes and he says, "good because we are going to have a great day!" He is the best!
Our group at the zoo
Bikes!
Anan also knows how starving we are and how we would almost kill for american food right now so today after the zoo he surprised us by taking us to the only american place around for miles... PIZZA HUT!!! I about died i was so happy! Pizza has never tasted better in my entire life!
Craft Day-
During play time today we had a craft day. This is code for complete chaos. From 4:30 to 5 the young kids up to age 7 got to finger paint. It was so cute and fun to watch.
After the finger painting was over was when all the chaos started. One of the volunteers brought crafts for the older kids to do between 5 and 6 pm and asked if i would help with the crafts. I agreed without knowing exactly what it was going to be like. I was put in a room with these 25 notebooks and stickers to decorate the notebooks. Kids just kept coming in and basically i got attacked. I tried telling them that they needed to sit down or else they would not get a notebook but no one was listening. They were pulling on me, jumping on my back, forcing me into a corner, and anything else you can think of to get a notebook and some stickers. They were all yelling and grabbing at me in every direction. After getting my shirt ripped and my name tag thrown across the room I was ready to get out of there. I ended up just throwing the notebooks on one of the tables and running out. I was dripping sweat and had had enough of the chaos. One of the boys saw me leave and could tell i was not happy. I guess he went back into the classroom and told the kids that i was upset and that they should write a sorry note. Someone delivered a sorry note to me later that day and it made me feel so good that they actually cared. These children do have hearts after all haha just kidding.
Quotes of the day:
These explain how I am feeling at the moment
