Love conquers all, part 1

Upon departing our beautiful home in the good ole USA, I wondered what I was getting myself into.

Welcome to India

In January, Tom and I embarked on to a journey far, far away and to my inexperienced eyes, another planet altogether.  We travelled to India.  From the backseat of the taxi, I beheld humanity, in all it's glory, on the streets of the above mentioned planet.  I thought of a lot of things as I soaked in the scenery of this interesting place.  These kids, have they never seen a white girl before on their way to school?  Where is the garbage can when you need one?  Why doesn't someone gather up all these cows and put them in a corral?  Does anyone EVER stay on their side of the road when driving at mach speed?

One must always watch your step while walking the streets of India.

There is actually a garbage can in this picture.  It is the only one I saw in the city.  Maybe people don't know what they are for???

I thought of how this woman would be arrested here if she were holding her baby, while sitting on the back of her husband's motorcycle.  This would not fly here.

I mostly thought about our journey that would lie ahead, on our way to our final destination, 

Rising Star Outreach.

We went with our good friends, Scott and Myra and Tom's twin brother and his wife, John and Maryanne. All of us wives assisted our husbands while they did dental work on children at this Boarding school co-founded by an American woman, Becky Douglas.  Watch this video to find out how it all started and what it's all about.  It is a wonderful story and very worth watching!

The children who attend this school come from leprosy colonies.  This school gives them a chance at a life, free from isolation and discrimination from the rest of society, due to the fact they have a relative with leprosy.  They will have a chance to be educated and given opportunities that would be impossible to receive if they stayed in the leprosy colony,

Every night they gather to sing songs and pray. 

This little girl was very apprehensive about getting her tooth fixed.  She didn't want Tom to do it until I convinced her it would not hurt and she would love the way it looked.  I showed her before and after pictures of other kids who had theirs fixed and so after that, she agreed.  I think it turned out really nice.

One day I saw this little boy grooming the mango grove and was so impressed with his work ethic and thought "gee these kids are such great kids and workers"  I later found out that he had been naughty and this was his punishment.  haha.  And I thought he was doing it just because he was a sweety pie.

We set up "clinic" in this empty room in the bottom floor of the boys dormitory.  We used lawn chairs and portable dental equipment to set up shop.  The working conditions were a little challenging, but these dentists were so positive and flexible, they made it work!

I went up, per request, to the girls' dormitory.  They sleep on the concrete floor. They love having visitors. Oh, and they LOVED having their picture taken.

Volunteers come on a regular basis and help these kids with their schooling.

This path was created by the fans of David Archuleta.  Each brick costs $50 which helps buy school supplies and furnishings and also help built a new secondary school on campus.  Fans put on words of encouragement and hope for the kids to see daily as they walk on the "pathway of hope"

On Sunday the children would do their laundry, air out their blankets and pillows and hang them out on the play ground.  They had a set routine for every single day.

Have you ever seen anything as cute in your life?!  

Just another day at school when your room mom combs the lice out of your hair with all your friends standing watch.

The kids loved Tom and his twin, John.  After we ran out of dental floss to give them they kept coming up and asking for some "string".  The other boys had some and they wanted it too.

These were our nurses and they were so very kind, helpful and enjoyable to be around.

Nothing was ever too serious for these guys.

I had to take a picture of this little guys legs.  They were so cute.  So typical of a little boy.

We got a kick out of the community toothbrush basket in the boys dorm!  

I think Maryanne took a thousand pictures while we were there.  I always knew that if I didn't capture the moment, she would!

before

after

These kids were so darling and happy all the time.

They loved having their picture made.

They loved their dentists!

This little guy loved his Playboy outfit. 

We had our clothing provided for us.

 These children stole my heart probably the first five minutes after I arrived.  They were so sweet and so loving to us all and they showed their appreciation to us all the time.  They loved giving hugs and holding hands.  I will always be grateful I got to go.  It was an eye opener to say the least.

Stay tuned for part two...