Humility

The past few days have very humbling for me. Thursday and Friday I had the opportunity to go out with the medical van and help our leprosy patients. I always enjoying going with the medical team because I always have the best experiences. Thursday was far more busier than Friday because of the size of the colony. I was there for such a long time, but it was all worth while. My task that day was to help wash the patients' feet. Washing their feet in itself is always humbling for me. Some of our patients cannot wash their feet due to the lack of hands. It really is such an amazing experience to participate it and I am always grateful to have the opportunity to do so. Thursday I was the only one washing, so at times it did get a little stressful. I will never forget my last patient of that day. He was the barber of the colony and a really nice man. He smiles at everyone and seems to be very grateful for our help and very optimistic about his life even in the circumstances he has had to go through. He has horrible wounds on both feet near and around his ankle area. I was pretty tired and ready to throw in the towel for the day, but I noticed this man needed washing, so I came over to him. I was not prepared for what I was about to see. He took off his bandages and laid them on the ground beside him. For a couple of minutes I sat there and just stared almost out of breath. He finally spoke in tamil saying he was ready; I somehow managed to snap out of my trance and began on washing his feet. The smell, the damage and the sight of maggots in his feet made the task at hand almost impossible. I could not help but wince myself each time he did as I slowly and carefully washed his feet. When I finished with his first foot he kissed his hand and tapped my forehead saying, "Thank you." I looked straight into his eyes with a smile and said, "You are very welcome." The five minutes I took washing his feet seemed a lot longer. I had never seen anyone affected as bad as this man was before, so I was totally shocked when his bandages slowly came off. After we cleaned up and were ready to go, I sat in the car with a feeling I have never had. I was just speechless and dead silent the whole ride back to RSO. I do not know what it was; I cannot put into words to describe how I felt. The rest of the day I remained in my dead silent state. Friday was not as gruesome as Thursday. The colony we went to was a lot smaller and took half the time. I was prepared to expect anything this time, but unfortunately my feet washing abilities were not needed. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to having another experience similar to the one I had with the barber, but no worries I was put to good use using my friendly nature to speak with the colonists helping them feel comfortable and loved. Today was Children's Day all over India, so we had a lot of fun with our children as they had a chance to participate in various games. At one point we had to stop due to rain, but thankfully for the kids the rain passed by fairly quickly and Children's Day was able to finish. It was great to have the rain again after a few days of somewhat hot weather. It would continue to rain throughout the rest of the day. Tonight I had the chance to go to Uthiramerur with Vikram, one of our office workers. Vikram is a very interesting guy. He is always happy and has a good sense of humor. He is getting ready for marriage, so before dinner he had me go with him to help pick out some wedding pictures he would present to his future wife's family. I think he appreciated my opinion, but I just hope the family of his future wife likes them. If he does not get married he can always blame me for selecting bad pictures. At dinner he asked me some pretty interesting questions. The topic was on love and what love meant to me. I was sort of shocked with his questions and I had not been planning on being asked about love. I gave him my most sincere and honest definition and of what it meant to me. I used great examples so he could understand what I was talking about. His response threw me off a little as he tried in his best way to tell me that I had been sent from God to help him and that it was God who sent me to answer his question, which he had been meaning to answer for several years. He had asked all of his family, people he worked with at RSO, and many RSO volunteers, but somehow the answer to his question still remained unanswered. He told me I was his angel and that finally after several years his question had been answered. I told him he was very welcome and if he ever had any other questions he should not hesitate to ask me because I would be more than glad to assist him in whatever way possible. I do not know what to say. I am very grateful and so appreciative of someone to look at me in that regard. I have never been told before I am somebody's angel, or that I have sent by God to answer someone's question. I do not feel worthy enough to be looked upon in that sense, but I guess we truly are sent by God to help people only He knows we can help. I was very flattered and blown away, but I felt more good in the sense his questions have now been answered and I now know Vikram is happy, which is what makes me happy. It feels good to know someone can look at you in the highest respect. It really was an honor and an amazing privilege. I will never forget my experiences in the past few days. It seems no matter what I do, or where I go God is always watching out for me. I cannot deny it because I keep seeing it repeatedly. I love the work I am doing and I love the people here. I love and miss you guys! You are all in my thoughts and prayers! I hope all of you are doing well!