.lindsey.taylor.walker.

This girl FINALLY made it to India and I am stoked to have her here!!!! 

.murals.

Project number 3 was start right after summer camp and G.L.O.W. was over. MURALS!!! Now I'm no artist...my beautiful sister Bethany got those genes...but I had an absolute blast doing this project. It was different from summer camp because we didn't do much interacting with the kids. But when we did, it was nothing but fun and games.

So fun story. We had just finished our second mural and we were waiting around the school to get some pictures taken. The students were being very disrespectful and we had to lock ourselves in the classroom. I could tell that the volunteers were getting really frustrated. I was frustrated myself. We were all so tired and worn out that we weren't in the best place at the time. I was mad at myself. I just wanted to go take a nap and be done with this school. We all felt defeated. I was defeated. When I found out that we would be doing ANOTHER mural the following week I was really not excited for it.  The night before we painted the third mural I was saying my prayers and I asked my Heavenly Father to bless me with the strength and courage to take on this next mural. I asked for the desire to want to play with the children and actually want to be there. Now something that I have realized out here in India is when I pray for something, the Lord has been VERY generous not only in my answers but in the timing of them. He works really fast in India haha. So we arrived at the school and all I wanted to do was run over to the kids and throw my arms around them. They were so welcoming and polite. As we were getting the paints and supplies set up, Lindsey noticed that one of the poles holding up their volleyball net had fallen down. Linds, Eric and I went out to fix it and I was thrilled. It felt like it had been a while since I had done service with a huge smile on my face. The kids were so helpful with bringing rocks to fill in the hole and everything. They were so happy to have us there. The net got fixed and we were able to play some games with them! Half way through painting I looked outside and saw Linds playing with the kids. Psh! I put down my paintbrush, washed my hands and went out to play. We taught them "Ring Around the Rosies" and we played "volleyball" with these rubber ring toys. The kids were absolutely thrilled. As was I. I was on cloud 9.

I painted this wall :)

Teaching them the "Hokey Pokey"

My boys

One more story: So we were able to paint a mural for the Alambana School for the Special Needs. What I haven't mentioned yet is that I will be able to be the project lead on teaching at this school. Being a special ed major and hoping to one day make it a career makes this opportunity amazing. (Another blog post to come about this project). We were painting a mural and I noticed that I had a little "shadow". He would stand next to me and watch me paint. We wouldn't say anything but his smile said it all. He loved the colors and the art. He looked about 12 years old. I pointed to the color yellow and asked him what color it was. Little soft noises came from his mouth. He couldn't speak. He physically could not talk. As sad as this was, I looked at this as an opportunity to help him and teach him. I took my experiences in the field to good use and tried my best to give him a little speech therapy. We would sound out the word slowly and eventually it got easier for him. We would say numbers, animals, shapes, colors. He knew them all. I pointed to the letter "M". He got really excited and pointed to himself. His name started with "M". I just knew it. He just wasn't able to say it. I made it a goal to learn his name but for the mean time, my little shadow's name was "M". I love this little boy so much and I cannot wait to teach him more. 

It was from that point on where I knew why Special Education was the field for me. The joy I felt while teaching "M" how to say 'lion', 'yellow', etc. was indescribable. A prayer I have been longing for the answer was answered today. This experience also helped me figure out why I had come to India. Why I decided to spend 3 months in a third (nearly fourth) world country. Why it was India I picked and not Fiji, Peru or Uganda. I was meant to be in India. Serving these beautiful people. Loving them. Unconditionally. I have learned how to love someone more than I love myself and it's a really good feeling.

Our mural for the Alambana School for the Special Needs

.bangalor.

What I love about being here and working our tails off is being able to take a break every few weeks to go on weekend vacations around India. First stop. BANGALOR! After a 10 hour bus ride and no sleep, we finally made it to beautiful Bangalor. It's so interesting how different one city in India is from another. Bangalor is really green and just full of life! We spent out first day settling in, shopping, swimming and eating out at TGI Fridays. You all know how much I love that restaurant and to be honest....I was a little disappointed. The Jack Daniel's sauce is a little sad tasting. But it's all good! The next day we headed to Mysore! This is a city just 4 hours outside of Bangalor. We went to Mysore palace. This is where the emperor lived and where people would come visit. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Best part of this visit? Riding and elephant AND a camel!! Two items on my bucket list have been crossed off! It was unreal standing next to such a beautiful animal...the elephant that is...the camel was....well interesting looking. haha But it really was so rad standing next to animals that I only see in movies and pictures. Riding them was an experience! The elephant was way fun! Eric and I rode the camel and it was actually quite uncomfortable. When I got on the camel I thought "hut hut!" from Prince of Egypt...but I don't understand how they could ride on a running camel. It was painful just riding one that walked around. Man I still can't believe I rode these amazing animals!! India has been too good to us!

Still in shock!

The elephant even posed for the camera!

Me and the roomies!

Hut! Hut!

Mysore Palace!...so sad we couldn't say pictures inside because it was BEAUTIFUL!

.G.L.O.W.

Our second project that we started working on this summer was G.L.O.W. Girls Leading Our World. This was an opportunity for us to teach some girls in the slums self esteem, goal setting, maturation and hygiene classes and many other things to help them feel confident with themselves. I wasn't sure how successful this project would be. Only because the first 2 classes didn't go as planned and the girls were younger than we had anticipated. But looking back on this project I found that the girls taught us more than we taught them. My favorite lesson was the self esteem class that we taught them. We compared your self esteem to an apple. Having negative thoughts about yourself and others is compared to dropping an apple on a hard surface. Slowly, the apple is getting bruised. However, due to the apple peel, we aren't able to see those bruises. When you cut open an apple you will find a star shaped center. Everyone is a star inside no matter your circumstance. We taught the girls to speak kind words of others and yourself. I loved the looks on their faces when they understood what we were talking about.

We then asked the girls to write down 3 things that they love about themselves. As I went around taking a glance at their lists I found an incredible pattern. Almost every single girl in the group said: "I want to help poor people." and "I love my India." This really hit home for me. These girls have nothing and yet they still want to help those who are less fortunate. They are so proud of their beautiful India. This is a country where the citizens love and cherish it. I love that. I love how much love is shown from these girls. They want to succeed in life. They want to change the world. They want to be special. And they are. I will forever be grateful for our G.L.O.W. girls.

Hooray for good self esteem!!!

.summer.camp.

Our first project we started on was our summer camp up in one of the slums in Hyderabad. Day one came and all 5 of us volunteers were beyond stoked and ready to start the work!
We were planning on having about 50 kids there between ages 5-11. Turned out that we have about 70 kids on our first day and a good number of them were toddlers. We didn't mind though! We had an absolute blast! We had lessons plans made and everything but due to the number of children and the chaos, we ended up playing A LOT of games and dancing around A LOT. We were also able to throw some lessons on the ABC's, 123's, colors and fruits. I honestly loved being there.
*Funny story...so on day one of summer camp we arrived not really knowing what to expect. We walked into this one roomed church building with all of the children sitting there boys separated from the girls. The children were so confused when 5 Americans walked into the room. Eliza, Eric and I just started playing with the kids and running around with them. After a few more minutes of confusion they found what we were doing to be rather fun. When it came time to separate into groups with the volunteers we asked the kids to pick a volunteer. Most of the boys ran to Eric, half of the group ran to Eliza and the other half ran to me. I had kids wrapped around my legs, stomach and arms. This is when it hit me. This is happening. I'm in India. Let's do this.

I met some pretty amazing children who I wanted to take home so badly. I loved spending a few hours a day for 2 weeks with these beautiful children. It made me really excited to be a future teacher. I think I found a new kind of love for children. These children have nothing and yet they love so unconditionally. They are so humble and happy. Being up in the slums for this project was an eye opening experience. You see slums in movies and pictures, but physically being there was something else. The homes were made of tarps and cinder blocks. The roads are super bumpy and dirty. Although it was a slum, it was a beautiful place to be. The love that came from the people made being there a beautiful and positive experience for us all. This was a perfect project to start an amazing summer with. Very humbling. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

This is Divya. One of the brightest and smartest girls I know.

This is Angel....she truly is an angel.

We taught them how to blow kisses...they love that!

This is my little Vanilla. She stole my heart the second I saw her.

Putting their hand prints on posters for their school!

Blowing kisses with my Vanilla!

Okay....This is who I call the "Wild Child". The second I saw her I wanted to be her friend. I had been calling her the wild child because...well she's wild and a typical little 4 year old! I later found out that he name is Nora...I still call her my "wild child".

SUMMER CAMP 2013!

I miss these children each and every day. I know I'll see them again. They will always have a special place in my heart!

.hello.

I sincerely apologize for slacking on keeping my blog updated of my journey here in India! I have everything all ready to type up and post! Get ready for some sweet pictures and some amazing stories. I am safe, happy and trying to stay healthy. I really don't want to be anywhere else in the world right now and I am truly blessed for this amazing experience. Shout out to Mama Tammy and Papa Larry for supporting me in this incredible journey. I love you guys! More posts comin' atcha!