India is HOT! I feel like I’m melting every second. But in a way it kind of feels good, because I’m constantly drinking water and I don’t have to worry about make up or smell☺
But life is great here in India. The country is beautiful and the people are wonderful. Yesterday we finally had the chance to drive out to the Leprosy Colony. We’ve all been waiting for this and our expectations were completely satisfied. The village Bharthapuran is made up of Leprosy infected and their families. This is the most advanced of the colonies because they have made there own businesses and have risen up from the every day begging. A woman named Padma Venkataraman has built up a micro loaning program to get the colony members to start working for themselves and stop begging. She is the daughter of the last president of India and has quite the resume.
So as we were walking around the colony I was invited into one of the houses by an Indian women. I followed her inside a small, three room, cement house. It really wasn’t that bad, I mean they had tv and a stove and stuff, but they didn’t have any plumming… not fun. So she lead me into her kitchen to show me something. She started to gesture toward something and as I looked up to this shelf I found Christ looking back at me. This woman went on to show me that she believed in Christ and that she was Christian. From that point on we had a connection that allowed Christ’s love flow over us. She would just hug me and kiss my cheeks and show me the pictures of her family and I just loved it.
Today I helped tutor the little kids who are struggling with school. We sat under the mango trees in the shade and read books and did math. I helped the youngest girl in the school recognize numbers 1-5. She was so cute and good. These kids are so great but they have the craziest names that I can never remember. Like Vegalashmee, Surya, and Mahnishaw, well I guess I remembered those names but the rest of the kids are impossible.
Last night we went to the junction to get some ice cream but it was the most sketchy ice cream freezer I have ever seen. Almost all of the wrappers were open and it was all sticky and stuff, but we all still got stuff because we hadn’t had ice cream for a while. As we were getting in the us to take off Carly was held back outside. An Indian man had asked her if he could take a picture with her. Haha and then two more made her stay and take a picture! Haha so funny. But I guess she’s used to it from being in China.
Today we go to the colony to talk to people about their history. I’m very excited.