Last day of Medical... :(

Sadly today was my last day on medical. I enjoy going to the colonies so much. These people have so much love and they willingly give it. They could choose to complain and say "why me?" But they keep going and make the best of what they got. The kids especially are what get me. Even the kids at the school are the same. They come from leprosy afflicted families but they all have so much love to give. And it doesn't matter who you are, they will run up to you, grab your hand, and tell you about their day.

To start the day off it took FOREVER  to get the colony. Well that's what it felt like. Really it was like hour and a half. But I thinks that's cause we got lost on the way to picking up the nurses. When we got there it then took like 20 minutes to back up and park. First there was a motorcycle in the way, then a pole, then some other random thing. All that didn't matter though once we started unloading an serving the people. The colony we went to was called Vandelure (I think that's the spelling.) The people there were so open to our service and the medical part ran pretty smooth. I was on washing and there were only 3 people who needed their ulcers washed. That's the amazing thing about RSO visiting these colonies. Slowly they don't need as much help from us anymore. That's the goal of RSO, to have these colonies become self sufficient and remove the stigma of leprosy. Leprosy colonies are like their own community, helping them helps the whole community grow as one. Another way of removing the stigma is the kids education. They are getting one of the best here at RSO so they can then go out and change the world. Be it doctor, lawyer, a tech at dell. They will be the change so they can be viewed by what they have to offer, not as a leprosy affected child.

There were kids at the colony we went to. I love how open the kids are to giving and receiving love. It doesn't matter who you are, they love you, take your hand, and walk with you. Another thing about the Vandelure colony is I got to meet Nadiya's family. Nadiya is the girl who was in my profile pic. I'll post a picture of her here to though. I think she has 2 brothers and 2 sisters but I was confused at first because one of her brothers kept saying he was her father. We were like "nu-uh, you're 16 maybe 17." Nadiya's 8! That was cleared up when eventually he said he was her brother. That sounded much better. Walking into Nadiya's home it was just a simple 2 maybe 3 room shack. But you could tell it was home to them. Nadiya's mother showed me a framed picture on the wall and told me it was Nadiya's grandfather. I don't know if he was famous or anything but it was a really nice framed picture with money in it. That's one about them not all speaking English. Certain things are lost in translation and we miss out on great stories.

 Also at the colony they filled water up with a pump. That's right! A pump. It was fun for me to use it but that's cuz I don't have to use it everyday. When we were done with medical and just exploring the colony we noticed a woman filling up brightly colored jugs of water and carrying them off. We didn't get what she was doing with them but one of the RSO girls came up and helped her. She still didn't know what the lady was doing but we all wanted to help. Kim and I helped another lady who was also filling up jugs and walked with them to her house. It was difficult the jugs were heavy and to hold them you had to kind of wedge it into your hip. The water sloshed everywhere and our shirts were pretty drenched once we got there. We figured out that the water was for laundry. We helped an Indian woman with her laundry! After seeing how they do laundry in India, man we have it easy in the US. Put the clothes in a machine, add soap, turn it on and voila! The rest is done for you. Leaving the lady's house house there was another woman who noticed us and tried to help dry us off. She also kissed our foreheads and hands. Like I've said before these people are so grateful for the service we provide. But the thing is we are so glad to give it.