This was a very good day. Highs and lows in many unexpected places.
This was the reason that we came on this trip, and frankly it was the part of the experience that I was kind of dreading. Those of you who know me know that I am not exactly the greatest around blood and things like that. So...I was not really sure how I would deal with this. We went to one of the largest colonies today, and were able to meet with a larger group of Leprosy patients. One of the first things that we realized when we came into the colony is that the majority of the people who live there are not actually affected by Leprosy, but they are family members and relatives of those who do have Leprosy. In this town there is a small community center where we set-up shop. There were 2 bus loads of people who went today, one bus was volunteers like ourselves, and in the other one was the doctor, nurses and medical staff who are all Indians. The medical staff were all women with the exception of one person. They were all dressed in beautiful Sari's, and had woven flowers in their hair and basically were dressed to the nines. Not what I would have chosen to wear to work in the conditions that we were in.
In the community center we set up all around the interior walls with a number of stations. The first place they would come to was registration, blood pressure, and glucose stations. Makenzie worked in this location, and she looked just like an adult nurse! She was totally in her element and thought it was the greatest thing in the world! The next place they would go to was the medication station. In this place they would get medicine, bandages and everything they would need to treat their wounds. After this, any of the patients that had open ulcers on their feet would come and get them treated. First they would come and one person would cut off the gauze and bandages they had on their feet. Then they would come to the foot washing station. This is where Cindy and I worked assisted by McKay. We would fill foot washing basins 2 to 6 inches deep with water and then put in some antiseptic. We would soak their feet in this for about 5 minutes. Then we would take small squares of material (Nona these are the ones that you make) and scrub out the ulcers on the bottoms or sides of their feet. Some of these were very large 3 inches or more across and as deep as an inch deep. It varied between the patient, but some of them could feel nothing, and for others it was quite painful while we cleaned their wounds. After this was done we put paper booties on their feet to keep them clean. The next station they went to was to have an oil put on their feet and legs. It was liquid paraffin oil, and Keaton would rub this all over their feet and legs. Additionally, he would lightly massage the tops of their feet and legs. The effects of Leprosy causes their skin to be really dry and sore. As Keaton massaged their feet and legs they were so happy because of how good it felt to them. As we finished up many of them just hung around and thanked us over and over for helping them. The kids were awesome!
After we finished with the treatments we went and visited some of the micro-businesses. The first one was a Pearl manufacturing business. To be specific, they take pearls they have got from the Phillipines and string them by hand in different designs and patterns to make necklaces, bracelets and earrings. A full necklace and bracelet combination is $90. The company that sells these in the US is http://pearlswithpurpose.com. The next place that we visited was an Art School they have set-up to teach those who have the effects of Leprosy learn to paint, and to benefit from their efforts. It is a very rough building and the artists have a view directly out the back of the building they paint from open air to a cattle pen. The cows are only about 15 feet away from where they are painting. We bought several paintings and had our pictures taken with the artists. One of the men we bought a painting from had no fingers at all, but created wonderful pieces of art! We also got to meet the barber, and the carpentry shop.
Today all of the children started to return for school tomorrow. We went over to their dormitory area and they were all out in the yard playing. We were literally swarmed by children! For about 3-4 hours we played so hard that we are all just completely worn out! The kids already have great friends amongst the children. We met one girl who traveled 10 hours from her home to get to the school. Her and Makenzie are already wonderful friends. Spending time with these wonderful, wild, crazy, happy children was definately one of the highlights of our trip. Part of the curriculum of the school is that they have prayer time every night. Tonight the staff did the prayer and religious thought portion of the program and then the students wanted to sing us all a song. The song that they chose to sing was "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet". Truly was a highlight of the night.
The Leprosy Colony
This was the reason that we came on this trip, and frankly it was the part of the experience that I was kind of dreading. Those of you who know me know that I am not exactly the greatest around blood and things like that. So...I was not really sure how I would deal with this. We went to one of the largest colonies today, and were able to meet with a larger group of Leprosy patients. One of the first things that we realized when we came into the colony is that the majority of the people who live there are not actually affected by Leprosy, but they are family members and relatives of those who do have Leprosy. In this town there is a small community center where we set-up shop. There were 2 bus loads of people who went today, one bus was volunteers like ourselves, and in the other one was the doctor, nurses and medical staff who are all Indians. The medical staff were all women with the exception of one person. They were all dressed in beautiful Sari's, and had woven flowers in their hair and basically were dressed to the nines. Not what I would have chosen to wear to work in the conditions that we were in. 
Community Center
In the community center we set up all around the interior walls with a number of stations. The first place they would come to was registration, blood pressure, and glucose stations. Makenzie worked in this location, and she looked just like an adult nurse! She was totally in her element and thought it was the greatest thing in the world! The next place they would go to was the medication station. In this place they would get medicine, bandages and everything they would need to treat their wounds. After this, any of the patients that had open ulcers on their feet would come and get them treated. First they would come and one person would cut off the gauze and bandages they had on their feet. Then they would come to the foot washing station. This is where Cindy and I worked assisted by McKay. We would fill foot washing basins 2 to 6 inches deep with water and then put in some antiseptic. We would soak their feet in this for about 5 minutes. Then we would take small squares of material (Nona these are the ones that you make) and scrub out the ulcers on the bottoms or sides of their feet. Some of these were very large 3 inches or more across and as deep as an inch deep. It varied between the patient, but some of them could feel nothing, and for others it was quite painful while we cleaned their wounds. After this was done we put paper booties on their feet to keep them clean. The next station they went to was to have an oil put on their feet and legs. It was liquid paraffin oil, and Keaton would rub this all over their feet and legs. Additionally, he would lightly massage the tops of their feet and legs. The effects of Leprosy causes their skin to be really dry and sore. As Keaton massaged their feet and legs they were so happy because of how good it felt to them. As we finished up many of them just hung around and thanked us over and over for helping them. The kids were awesome!
Micro-Business
After we finished with the treatments we went and visited some of the micro-businesses. The first one was a Pearl manufacturing business. To be specific, they take pearls they have got from the Phillipines and string them by hand in different designs and patterns to make necklaces, bracelets and earrings. A full necklace and bracelet combination is $90. The company that sells these in the US is http://pearlswithpurpose.com. The next place that we visited was an Art School they have set-up to teach those who have the effects of Leprosy learn to paint, and to benefit from their efforts. It is a very rough building and the artists have a view directly out the back of the building they paint from open air to a cattle pen. The cows are only about 15 feet away from where they are painting. We bought several paintings and had our pictures taken with the artists. One of the men we bought a painting from had no fingers at all, but created wonderful pieces of art! We also got to meet the barber, and the carpentry shop.The Children
Today all of the children started to return for school tomorrow. We went over to their dormitory area and they were all out in the yard playing. We were literally swarmed by children! For about 3-4 hours we played so hard that we are all just completely worn out! The kids already have great friends amongst the children. We met one girl who traveled 10 hours from her home to get to the school. Her and Makenzie are already wonderful friends. Spending time with these wonderful, wild, crazy, happy children was definately one of the highlights of our trip. Part of the curriculum of the school is that they have prayer time every night. Tonight the staff did the prayer and religious thought portion of the program and then the students wanted to sing us all a song. The song that they chose to sing was "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet". Truly was a highlight of the night.
I love hearing about all you are doing everyday. It is wonderful to see your kids helping out in thus way. What a humbling experience. What was Carson doing? Where did they learn we thank thee oh God for a prophet? Too perfect.
ReplyDeletesorry I forgot Carson. He was emptying and refilling the buckets that we washed the feet in. He is not in any of the pictures I have on my camera as he was running back and forth the entire time.
ReplyDeleteAmy, their songbook is the LDS Hymnal. They chose random hymns to siing. First they sang Joy to the World.
ReplyDelete