Matt Goes To India

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Last Days at Rising Star

Hey Everybody,

I'm sitting here at my apartment in Salt Lake and I'm missing India so bad. The last couple of days were great and I've consciously been avoiding this blog because I didn't want to talk about leaving ha.

Monday was the last day I went to a colony and that was a great clinic. It was one of the colonies I had been to already and it was nice seeing some familiar faces. From that point on we stayed on campus and helped with checkups and vaccinations for the kids. It was really cute/sad to see the new kindergartners having to get their shots. Luckily I only prepared the syringes and didn't have to inject any of them, because they were so scared and cried so hard. Even when I was doing blood pressures, they got really freaked out but they toughed out that one for the most part.

We did that in our scheduled time and in my free time I mostly hung out/played with the kids during their play time. It was really fun playing soccer and learning how to play cricket with them. These kids live really far away from their homes so it's nice to give them the love and attention that they need. In the evenings, we did hygiene talks one night (talking about showering, keeping rooms clean, washing hands, etc.), finger nail clipping the next and delousing (applying lice shampoo) on my last night right before I left.

I really hit it off with the 10th graders, and they kept having me do stuff with them. Minutes before I packed up my things I went over to their hostel and said good bye. Although we didn't have alot of time with the kids, them not being in school for most of the time I was in India, I got really close with them and it was really hard saying good bye to them.

Yesterday was a really long travel day again but I made it here without any issues.

My overall experience in India was incredible. Being able to work alongside/serve so many incredible people is something I will never forget. A thought that I kept having while I was there is best described by Mahatma Gandhi: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." I realized that this is why I loved my mission so much, and also why I loved India. You really do become your best self when you put other's people needs ahead of your own.

I'm so grateful to everybody who made this trip possible, I can't say that enough. This trip really helped me realize the type of person I want to be, the career path I'm choosing, and how I want to spend my time helping others with the skills I have acquired. I encourage anybody who is on the fence about getting involved in something like this to DO IT! I loved it so much and hope that all of you get the chance to help your fellow man, especially those that are in great need.

Niveta took us to a temple nearby and taught us
some of the local beliefs

Building a big rock tower represents building
a large family and future.

Picture with the boys

After they swallowed me up

Good bye Rising Star

Last night with my boys

Monday, June 8, 2015

Trichy

So sorry everybody for not having blogged in a while... it's been a crazy last couple of days and this is the first time I've had sufficient Internet and time to put up a post.

Like I said in my last update... Mike, Shane and I went on a 5 hour road trip to Trichy. It's really spelled/pronounced Tiruchirappalli but even the locals have a hard time saying it so they shorten it. It was us and a Rising Star Nurse, Ponkurry, that went to the new branch that they started there only about a year ago. They have bought a house and downstairs they have an office space and medical supplies and upstairs were the rooms and kitchen. It was really nice and although there weren't many staff, they were super nice people and overfed us every single meal haha.

Thursday we went to this really poor looking colony that actually was only discovered about a year back when the branch started. The people wanted nothing to do with Rising Star, even though they were in really bad shape; they were without electricity, their kids were running around naked and not in school, the overall health was terrible... So Dr. Susan (Managing Director and Medical Director) simply asked them to think/pray about it. They called soon after saying they had heard good things about Rising Star and would allow help. They soon had electricity, clean water, the kids got education grants to be enrolled in school and the overall feel of the village was very positive when we were there. These people had a complete change of heart because of the service that they were offered.

Friday we went to another colony and helped a good number of patients, probably 30-40. Our new crew included Dr. Kuppuswamy (super cool guy), 3 other awesome nurses and us so needless to say we kept busy, that's why there's not very many pictures of us at the colonies.

Saturday the Office Administrator Andrew took us to see the temples in Trichy. The Rockfort Temple is actually a bunch of different small temples/shrines built on these huge rocks in the middle of the city. That was probably my favorite place so far that we've visited, then we went to these other temples but weren't allowed to see most of it because we were Non-Hindu.

Sunday we came back on a charter bus so we arrived pretty late last night to campus. This morning we went out to the same colony I went to my first day to check on some patients we hadn't seen. And this afternoon was a heartbreaker, we had to give vaccines to the new kindergartners that were enrolled this year and some were not happy :(. Luckily we got them all taken care of and got them all of their dinosaur stickers.

It's been crazy busy, but that's what has made this trip so awesome. I've loved serving the people here in India, especially the ones you can tell have had a really rough life. Being able to relieve or give comfort in any sort of way has been so rewarding. Also gaining familiarity with the Indian Culture and seeing what this country has to offer has been incredible, I've had such a great experience and it's sad to see it all winding down. But I'll make the most of these last couple of days. Here's a photo/video overload of the weekend and also of past things that were taken by our talented photographer Shane Maryott.

Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

I think posing next to boys makes them uncomfortable
Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Dat beard doe'
Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Community Center donated by Rising Star

Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Fisherman at the Falls
Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

This was the first village we went to in Trichy

Found this guy in the bathroom

Washing Crew

Post clinic hand washing

Entrance to Rockfort Temple

Had to remove my shoes to get in

I got a blessing from this cute lil' guy

Mehhhh

The view of Trichy from the Rockfort Temple

The Mines of Moria

Heading back to RSO Campus

Story of my life
Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Road Trip #2

Hey Everybody,

I just got back from another long road trip and didn't have WiFi available... so here's an overview of the last few days.

Sunday was a nice day, we drove 2 hours to Chennai where we had church with the Chennai 1st Branch and I was pleasantly surprised. Although it was only a branch, there were maybe 60-70 members present and all of them were very well educated in the Gospel and gave some excellent talks and lessons. The Indian culture of education and hard work was definitely evident. That was great and then I just relaxed the rest of the day after we got back.

We left early Monday morning to a colony about 4 hours away and were able to see maybe 30-40 patients. We haven't seen this colony in over a year so they were really excited to see us and so grateful for what we were doing. We had to go up a steep road to set up our clinic and these patients who had really beat up feet and you could tell were in pain just moving around were helping us take tables/chairs up the road to set up the clinic. It was really awesome to see. After that we went and visited a big dam nearby and the gardens behind it... then we got set up in our hotel, had some dinner and went to bed.

Yesterday was really awesome, we got up early and went to another colony close by and helped 66 patients! It was a little crazier because some of the volunteers stayed behind to help with school (it started this week) so I was running between doing blood pressures, helping with the ulcer washing, and blood sugar testing... it was awesome! We finished up at the colony a little later but we went down and saw some waterfalls that were in a nearby government protected jungle. We got in these little saucer boat things and went down this river, I had so much fun. We headed home after that and got back at around 11:00 pm... and today we have another longer road trip planned. Hopefully I'll have WiFi, but if not know that I'm doing well and having a blast. Enjoy the pics/videos!