Shell-Shocked: The end of Week 2....

I've gotten the chance to go to another three leprosy colonies over the past couple days. We basically go out with the doctor and two nurses and help them with whatever needs to be done. We take turns testing blood sugar, blood pressure, and then washing feet. Leprosy destroys the nerves, often in the feet and hands, and as a result, patients will get an injury or wound and not realize it. Many lose their feet because they will injure their foot and keep walking for days and weeks until there is a huge ulcer in it. So, at clinics, we remove their bandages, wash their ulcers and then the nurse re-bandages them. I was a little nervous the first time I washed someone. Some of their ulcers look incredible painful, but most can't feel it so it makes it easier to clean it thoroughly. And the patients are so sweet and kind. One of the colonies, Bhatapuram, is like a senior citizen's home for leprosy patients. One lady was so cute, the whole time I was washing her feet, she kept pinching my cheek and then kissing her fingers and smiling at me. I was trying to communicate with her, but she only speaks Tamil, no English so we weren't getting past "hello" and she just kept staring at me blankly. Then a Tamil speaker came over and interpreted that she was asking me what I had eaten that day. Here, after you say "hello", the next question is "have you eaten today"? It's like asking "how are you" since the answer will dictate how you are doing. So, I told her yes, and she asked what I ate and when I said "toast" she burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing she'd heard all week. A couple of other ladies sitting near us started laughing their heads off too. So there must be a Tamil word that sounds like "toast" that is really funny. I also cut a lot of toe and fingernails. We only had fingernail clippers and I was having a hard time cutting a man's toenails because they were so thick. But every time I managed to clip some off, he'd say "oh, very goooood". It made me laugh every time.

Bindu Art School is in the colony we visited as well. Some of the leprosy patients are amazing artists and even though many have no fingers and little or no feeling, they are producing amazing words that sell for hundreds of dollars. We got to visit the school and see some of the artists work and talk to them.

At one of colonies we went to, a man in his 80's, had had a heart attack that morning and was taken to the hospital. Dr. Kumar was talking to his wife and she started bawling because she was so worried about him. Then she came around to the three of us volunteers and one by one, took our hands and then laid her head against our chest and just cried. It was heartbreaking. All of us were fighting back tears. Even though we couldn't communicate with her, I think she understood how concerned we were about her and her husband. Aye...I know it's a cliche, but I think all the time about why I was so lucky to be borbn in America in this day and age. These kinds of experiences really drive home how fortunate and blessed I am.