Learning, Living, and Loving

     My last few days at Rising Star were absolutely amazing. I was put in the education group for both Monday and Tuesday, and it was so great to be able to spend more time with the kids.  I got a chance to get to know some of them better, and to say goodbye to the ones that I had drawn close to.  I have this little reading buddy named Ebinezar.

      He is fifth standard, and all fifth standard students have a homework assignment to read for fifteen minutes every night. Kala, my house mother, asked me to read to him the first couple of days, and soon it became our nightly ritual.  Together we plowed through versions of A History of Trains, Rupunzel, Rumplestiltskin, and Heidi.  One of my favorite memories of Ebinezar happened about a week and a half ago on a Tuesday.  We had not been able to read for the past couple of days because they had not been able to print off the reading homework paper because the printer had been broken. I kept on asking Ebinezar what he thought would happen next in Rupunzel, and telling him how excited I was to read with him again.  Tuesday night as I approached the hostel where the boys lived, I heard him yelling "Becky! Becky! We get to read tonight!."  He was standing outside with a flashlight waiting for me.  It made my week to see how excited he was to read Rupunzel with me.  We sat down together and read for well over 15 minutes.  Afterwards, he gave me a sweet henna tattoo on my palm.  Dang I love that kid. He is so sweet, and incredibly compassionate. On Friday, something happened and Ebinezar stopped talking to me. I thought he was mad at me, and tried to talk with him about it several times, but he wouldn't speak to me. Finally one day at lunch I was sitting next to him and he says, "Becky, do you have a passport?" I answer, "Yah I think it's somewhere in my room."  Ebinezar responded with "If you lose your passport, than you don't have to go back to America. Don't find it, and you can stay here with me."  My friend, at that moment all I wanted to do was pick you up and carry you back to America with me.

Ebinezar giving me my sweet henna tattoo.  I loved it buddy! 

 During our 2 hour free time on Tuesday Emmalee, Benson, Kaylee,Taylor, Becca, and I all went on a stroll through the Indian countryside.  It was great to interact with the villagers, and walk through rural India. Most of the men were at work so we met many of the women who were at home with their families.  I liked that because many Indian women tend to become quieter and less animated as soon as a male presence is around.  We met two little village girls from Rising Star who were on their way home. These cuties are new to Rising Star, so they mostly spoke Tamil. They were both five, and it was an awfully long way for them to walk by themselves so we walked with them. They loved it when we swung them up by their hands, and would giggle hard every time.  Benson, I am sorry my friend but it was not as cute when you tried to giggle.

Benson and Tay

Walking the Rising Star girls home.

  We had dropped the little girls off and were rushing to get back to Rising Star for play time when we met a group of village women who got really excited when they saw our cameras.  They started gesturing to a grass hut, and speaking rapidly in Tamil. We walked over to the hut and when we looked inside we saw a mother holding a small little baby girl on her lap. They pointed at our cameras and then at the baby. "Photo, Photo" they said. We took some pictures of the mother and her baby, and I got a chance to hold this precious little girl. While we were leaving Satya, the mother, asked me in broken English, "Send me photos?" It was then that I realized that for us this was a great opportunity to interact with villagers, make new friends, and have cute pictures of a baby to put on facebook. For her though, this was most likely her only chance to have pictures of her baby girl taken. She lives in a grass hut in Southern India, and just like any mother, wants to have something to remember her baby by. I am going to do my absolute best to make sure that she gets the pictures. Her grass hut is at the end of the village on the left side of the road about 1/4 of a mile from the yellow church. If you're going to India let me know....:)

I love this lady.  I  hope that everything in her life turns out well. 

  It was so hard to say goodbye that last night. Shaun Parry's dance group, Life Dance, and the choir performed for us. Those kids are amazing. I was truly awed by how much talent the kids at Rising Star have.  After the performance this huge mass of little boys suddenly converged into a spontaneous mosh pit. I do not know who taught them to hip thrust (I'm pretty sure it wasn't anybody from India), but hip thrust they did and it was hilarious.  Darn. I want to post some videos but the computer will not let me. Check my facebook and they should be up pretty soon.  When we left the kids that night there were lots of tears. I held Eshwari while she cried and soon I was crying as well.  Our director, Rachel Ostler, literally had to pull me away from the Rising Star Children. These kids will forever have a piece of my heart.  They taught me so much more than I was able to teach them, and I am eternally grateful for it. I hope that I can go back soon. Truly truly, we are all children of the same Heavenly Father.  I know that he loves all of us the same, and that we all have a place in this world.  He has put us on earth to help each other, and these beautiful children were able to show me a bit of that.
 
 

I love you!!!

Peace---Becca