I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. Mother Teresa

I’ve learned here that India doesn’t make India beautiful. There’s trash everywhere, dirt, awful smells etc. But when you’re here that doesn’t matter because that’s not what India is. India is beautiful, if you look at it with the right pair of eyes. The people make India beautiful, not the landscape. I’ve also learned that not everything goes according to schedule. Sometimes life happens and when it does go along with it. Enjoy the ride and the people your with. Life is to short to be uptight, upset, angry, sad and mad at someone who hurt you. Forgive people, move on, live, laugh and love unconditionally. I’ve also learned to search for connections outside of words. Today I went to a colony called Moot. It was SO much fun! It was very sad also. This woman only had one leg and she would walk with her fists. She had no fingers, no wheel chair no nothing. She was the skinniest person I have ever seen. Skinnier than an 8 year old. She didn’t speak at all. She didn’t really look at anyone either. The entire time she just stared at the sky. She closed her self off from everyone in the group and sat alone. I went over to her and wrapped my arm around her, kissed her hands and sat with her. It was really hard to connect with her because she was so cold to everyone. Cold with a reason I’m positive of it. She finally looked up at me and flashed a small smile. I could tell in her eyes that something was wrong with her but we didn’t need words to communicate. She just needed someone to sit with her and love her. I finally got her to come play Jenga with the group and she totally rocked it. She was AMAZING! These people have no fingers and still kicked my butt! There was another man there and I’m not saying their names because I would butcher it so I wont even try ☺ But he had one full leg and half another leg. He had no fingers or toes and to get around he had almost like a pillow with wheels. It was so rad. But its just so sad these people aren’t even given wheel chairs. They’re not given anything. One man was emitted to the hospital because he was dying and he needed a blood transfusion. The nurses moved him to a level on the hospital all by himself and put him in the very last room in the hallway with not even any sheets on his bed. They hadn’t even bathed him in three and a half weeks. They refused to give him a blood transfusion because to them he was “dirty”. It makes me disgusted at how cold people can be. They eventually kicked the man out of the hospital and he ended up passing away. All the people in India LOVE when you sing to them so we sang them all kinds of Christmas songs. They were so amused it was hilarious. One man was so happy. Honestly the happiest person I have EVER met. We asked his wife why is he so happy? She told us he is only happy when we come because we bring out the best in him. Which is ironic since he and all of them bring out the best in all of us here. Their smiles and laughs are contagious. Their all just so vibrant and colorful I can’t even explain it. Just pure unconditional love. It was so hard to leave these people and know that those were the last feet I’d wash here, the last hands to kiss and touch, the last tears I’d shed to weep with them and the last laughs I’d share with them. Until next summer of course! I cried the whole way back to the hostel.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa


* Leave people better than you found them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stig·ma : 1. a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation.

I had no clue until today that 200 people a year in the US are diagnosed with Leprosy. I went to an art school today called the Bindu Art School. The art school is filled with students who have or had leprosy. The owner is a man from Austria and he had some of the Leprosy afflicted fly to Austria to do an art show. Becky Douglass tried to have some of the Leprosy afflicted fly to America to do an art show as well. It never happened because all of their Visas were declined. I asked why their Visas were declined and the translator said because they have Leprosy. That really, really upset me to know that there's still a stigma in the US. People are so ignorant about things they don't know about. Most people are like this with culture, religion, politics, diseases and people. People are ignorant because their scared of the unknown so they are quick to judge and make opinions. Which is understandable because their scared, but if people stepped back to make an effort to learn about the unknown and try to understand different things, the world would be a different place. We could all work on being more open minded and turning hate, anger, sadness into to pure love. People should think of being open minded as learning new things.

Today I went to the art school and bought THE RADDEST piece of art you've ever seen. It's these two ginormo eyes with a bindi in the middle and it has a mustache and its just so rad. Later we had play time with all the kids and we had a water fight which felt amazing considering the one million degree weather! Then during dinner on the roof it started pouring rain. It was so awesome! Everyone wanted to go inside but I wanted to lay in the rain haha. So I did, by myself after dinner. Then Later we put the kids to bed. K not really. I danced with them and gave them airplane rides and made videos with them.

I look at how amazing and pure these kids are and their family members with Leprosy and I wonder why do bad things happen to such amazing people. I think God chose these people to have such hard trials like these because he knew how special and strong they are. He knew that they could handle it and still have a great attitude and that they would embrace their trials and take the positives out of them. They're not people they're angels. Their beautiful. I wish I could just take all their trials and burdens for them. I wonder why I got so lucky. Why I have the life I have. Why do i deserve it? These people have nothing except for a heart of gold,love and the most beautiful outlook on life I have ever seen, and they still try to give you the shirt off their back, the rare meal that they have, and the little water that they have from their community well. If this was your life what would your outlook be? Would you embrace the trials or would you have resentment towards god and life it self? Some of us complain if we cant have a pair of shoes we want from Nordstrom or if we cant get a certain phone or whatever. That stuff used to be somewhat important to me but its just not anymore. They are all things. The best things in the world aren't things. Their beauty, people and love.

The best quote my amazing big brother ever gave me: " If god put you to it, he'll get you through it."
God doesn't give you anything you cant handle :)

 

 

 

 

 

Life is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Today I was in the medical group but they were drawing blood from the kindergartners and last time I cried when they got shots so I couldn’t stay in there haha. So I helped the kids write their sponsor letters. It’s so adorable how excited they get about their sponsors. It means A LOT to them so if you want to sponsor a child for 30 bucks a month go to risingstaroutreach.org. You get letters from them every month and a picture of them and updates on how their doing in school and just all around. When you pick a child it will have a biography on them and the way they behave and their personalities. They are all so cute and some don’t have any sponsors and you could totally make their life by sponsoring them! A lot of the kids don’t have parents who support them and just want to take them out of school to become beggers. There is one girl at the school and her mom pulled her out of school to become a begger and she starved the little girl so that she could receive more money from people. It is so sad. If you look at her now and look at a picture of her from a couple months ago she looks like an entire different person. Later today we decorated a wall that all the volunteers do and that was rad and there was a snake and I was sitting on these steps and I saw it coming by me but I didn’t think it would go up the steps and one girl Dani started chasing it with this big purple plastic stick thing haha and the snake got scared and started slithering up the steps by me it was so scary! Dani was to scared to kill it so she closed her eyes and chucked a boulder at it hahaha it was awesome but super gross. After that we found flour and milk and made crepes haha they were kind of gross since we had like nothing to put on them but that’s okay. Tonight at play time I got the raddest henna EVER!! Its all up my arm and so, so cool. Theres not a lot to tell about today since we all stayed at the school. Tomorrow I’ll have lots to tell because I’m going into the village :)

Once you see, you own the responsibility to do

Today I went into the colony and I swear the driver was the dumbest person EVER haha but in a good way I guess. It took us two hours to get to a Colony 45 minutes away and then it took us like a bagillion minutes to park the van because there was a motorcycle in the way then a random pole then a rock and he kept driving into on coming traffic and I for sure thought god was taking me home for a second hahah I was closing my eyes the whole time it was so scary! At the colony I walked around and all these random kids started running up to me and jumping on me it was so cute and they were all running around in their underwear hahah. I had the pleasure of washing this poor ladie’s legs. She had no feet or hands and no wheel chair to get around. Her son would pick her up and move her wherever she had to go. I brought her a chair because they set her on the floor and that would be nuts if she just sat in the dirt in pain. She would cry every time her son would pick her up because of the pain it was so sad. When I washed her feet I had no idea she had a big ulcer underneath her foot and the leprosy moved into her bone so she was sensitive just to the touch and I just started washing and she started crying and she pointed to underneath her foot. I felt SO horrible you have no idea. Her son then moved her over to get bandaged and the nurse got scissors and started cutting the calluses off of her foot and she was crying, crying so I came over to hold her hand and she blessed me by putting a cross over my forehead and giving me kisses. She was the sweetest ever. After washing I started walking around with the kids and they brought me into their homes. They were literally shacks and they slept on the dirt floor. I introduced myself to their entire families and they were so excited they kept asking for pictures of me with their family. I was just excited as they were ☺ These people are amazing. I saw this lady pumping water from the well and I asked her if I could pump the water for her and she said No, no, no, but I didn’t take no for an answer and I pushed her aside and pumped her water. OH MY GOSH it is such an awesome workout I had no idea! We need water pumps in America instead of having sinks and fridges and water bottles. She was so grateful after just for me doing the smallest thing ever. These people are the greatest. Tonight at the hostel I played jump rope with the girls and tossed paper airplanes with the boys. It was awesome. Then we had dinner on the roof and watched a lightning storm like every night. My favorite part of the night by far. Then we went with our groups and played with the girls and put them to bed but tonight they put me to bed. I was showing them how my Mommy always lightly scratches my arm and it makes me super sleep, so I started lightly scratching their arms and they were all lined up saying Auntie my turn!! So they all started yawning and getting sleepy and made me get super sleepy. I layed by all of them spread eagle on the cement. Then two of them on each arm started scratching my arms super soft and said you go to sleep Auntie then one little girl was scratching my feet hahaha it was the sweetest thing ever. I fell asleep and the house mother Sarah Swatee saw and thought that I passed out I think but she freaked out and was like ASHLEY ASHLEY!!! WHATS WRONG!?! And It scared the heck out of me and I was like no nothing im just tired hahah and she’s like get up you lay in my bed and I lay on the floor! It was so cute but I would never make her sleep on the cement. These people just want to give you everything of the little they have. Its beautiful.