What a joyous week we had with Matt and Natalie and 7 grandsons and 2 nieces on Natalie's side of the family here with us. It was so fun to share a bit of our life with them, and see the way they responded with love and energy to the requirements of being with the children (who couldn't get enough of them), working in the colonies, painting murals, and all other kinds of things they were asked to do. They worked through illness, heat, little sleep and constant activity, to provide Rising Star with everything a volunteer can give. How we loved watching it all. We thank each and everyone that came, as we do all our volunteers for the great gift that they bring: love and willing hands and heart.
The youngest two sons in the Maryland Hanson family are Matthew (Match -- 9) and Jack (11). They were beloved of the children: Ambarasu said Jack is his best friend for life, and Peter and Match could be seen walking everywhere hand in hand. Match and Jack were never without a crowd, with the children knocking our door all hours of the early morning and into the evening, looking for their best friends to come and play. They also took their turns painting murals, doing the Anthropology interviews and the medical day, washing and wrapping feet. In the colonies, they got their cheeks pinched until they were red, and barely escaped several loving older women who wanted to adopt them into the colony. Also, one older man who had been drinking a lot, almost smothered Jack with love and booze! They played games in the colonies and loved the people, giving their whole hearts to the work.
The older boys, Jamie (15), Samuel (16), Eric (17), Ben (17) and Nate (18), and the two beautiful girls, Sammy Stapley (15) and Jane Ostergar (16), were all the perfect volunteers. They were on time for the coordinators meetings where they receive their instructions for each day, willing to go with their group for the days activities, and participating cheerfully at whatever they were asked to do. It was so thrilling to see these beautiful teenagers demonstrate the true love of Christ in their interactions with the young and the old. The coordinators mentioned several times they had never seen young people more willing to serve without complaint than these nine were. How grateful we were to each of them, and how we love them!
Natalie and Matthew led the group--survived losing Match at the Red Fort in Agra, and mentally preparing the young people for what they could expect when they arrived at Rising Star Outreach. They had six days in the north of India touring with their group before coming South. They were incredible volunteers, also, lifting, encouraging, bearing gifts for all the staff and the children, teaching the children how to make boxes (and the children made a lot), preparing picture and picture frames for each child to give their family at the next parent's day, and encouraging and lifting their aging parents! (No easy task!) It was a bit of pure heaven having them here: all loving being here, and all being loved. The following is a bit of Matt's email home to the families interested in their children's activities.
"Our days at Rising Star have flown by. You would all be very proud of how our group of kids threw themselves into the flow of the school and had a very positive impact. During the day, we break into our groups and work on various assignments. Yesterday my group painted a Nemo mural in one of the girl’s dorm rooms, while the other two groups either met with people in the villages to work on oral histories (part of an anthropology project), or went to the hospital with the medical team to escort some of the leprosy patients through the morass which is public health care.
" A few other highlights: Yesterday a US born daughter of Indian immigrants performed a traditional Hindi dance, complete with the formal gown, makeup and jewelry. The kids experimented with Hennai, which is a semi-permanent sort of tattoo (it comes off in a about a month). Jane, Sammy and Natalie have been doing various crafts with the girls: decorating picture frames and boxes out of folded paper. The boys have been playing some intense basketball with the students, and working hard at their assignments.
" The lowlight? We ate Porota (Indian flat bread) at a road side stand on Tuesday night. Nate lost in an eating contest to a girl. Nate downed 10 Porota, while Esther consumed 11. We were all very embarrassed and pessimistic about the future of SVU football.
" We leave tonight to Chennai for our flight back. The kids had the option of leaving this evening and having an American dinner in Chennai before going to the airport, or staying at the school for as long as possible and heading straight to the airport. They unanimously chose to stay for as long as possible, so that they could be with the kids and enjoy all the activities here at the school. These kids have really been great to travel with."
What a joy as parents and grandparents to have had this opportunity to host these wonderful young people and Matt and Natalie. They were all awesome!!!
Pictures: Night of departure, Jamie strutting his dunk, Nate and his 10th parotta, Sam and a wild game of soccer with Sathya and Praveen, Natalie and Sammy in the craft mode, Ben and friends, dinner on the balcony, Match and Jack with the boys collecting 20 eggs, Jane and Match on afternoon "ticket to play" check, Sammy with 2 friends, painting the "Nemo" mural, Nate and Eric with their mural, "Flounder"
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