Tribal Village Part Two

Mr. Peter, Vel (our driver), Me, Kim J., and Amanda

The second day of our tribal adventure was a special treat. We woke up for morning devotional at 7:00 sharp and met the doctor and his staff in their small chapel which was beautiful, windows everywhere to let in the sunlight. This devotional was probably one of the most special spiritual experiences I've ever shared with someone of another faith. We started out by hearing a prayer song in Tamil by some of the doctor's (physician that runs the Smart Medical Clinic, sadly I don't know his name) staff and daughters. It was absolutely beautiful. Our group of LDS students then sang, "Nearer My God To Thee." Dr. Kirby, a family practitioner from Salt Lake City shared a thought from the new testament and then the doctor opened it up for anyone else to share or ask questions because he said that when he was younger, he never liked that the pastor would preach at him and then everyone would go home without discussing anything. I love this doctor because he reminded me of my grandpa Leavitt and my own father. He was one of the most kind, gentle, tender-hearted people I have ever met. He just radiated goodness and had a desire to devote his whole life to the service of those in need. He could make a decent living as a doctor here in India, but instead chose to use his education to live in a rural town where he provided basically free medical attention to nearby villagers. Everytime he spoke I was just overcome with the realization of how special it was to be able to connect on a spiritual level with him and his staff across cultures and religions. The doctor shared a few comments that brought tears to my eyes, which has become a regular occurance this trip. At one point he said that he was so grateful to be born into his native country of India and so grateful for all that he has been given in his life. I felt so humbled by this comment. He lived such a simple life, without any real luxuries, but still he was so grateful for everything he had and you could tell that he was being genuine. He was grateful for his daughters and their faith, for his ability to help those in need, for his own religion, and for his culture. I immediately realized that I needed to have more appreciation for all that I am blessed with in my life and to recognize more completely where those blessings come from. Everything that we have is from our Heavenly Father and sometimes it is so easy to think that we receive some blessings as a result of our own hard work or skill, but without the Lord and our Father in Heaven we wouldn't have any of it. If that doctor can be so grateful for what he has in his life, I need to thank my Heavenly Father for all that I have been given including the little luxuries that come from living in the united states, the opportunity to get an education and a job, my health, and especially my family who has helped me grow in the gospel.

After the doctor had made some comments, Navamani, the leprosy hospital trained nurse, had Dr. Susan tell about her son. She had her explain that her son had contracted Guillen-barr syndrome and woke up one morning nearly paralzyed. She said that she almost lost her son, but that thru the goodness of God he survived. She then said that she wanted to sing a song of gratitude and praise to God in Tamil. The song was so lovely and heartfelt. She had tears running down her cheeks while singing and you could feel of the love she had for her God and the blessing He had bestowed upon her by sparing her son's life. While they were singing, I was overcome with the love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children. He doesn't discriminate based on race, religion, or personal decisions. He loves each and everyone of us no matter where we are. He loves us even when we make mistakes or when we turn our back on Him and is ready and waiting with open arms for us to turn unto Him again. I felt so connected with those people in that small chapel through the love of our Heavenly Father and our mutual desire to come closer to Him and His son, Jesus Christ. I will never forget that moment when our cultural differences were far surpassed by our joint love of God.

After the devotional we ate another homemade breakfast by the Smart Clinic staff which was delicious, as always. We then headed on up four mountains to reach the second tribal village. We all crammed into two Sumos (SUVs of sorts) and traveled one bumpy road to reach villagers that rarely got medical attention. We set up the outdoor clinic and I got busy checking blood pressure and using the few Tamil words I know, like hello and thank you and then using sign language for everything in between. We checked BP and blood glucose before they would see doctor susan for a more complete check up. Toward the end of the day I was helping keep people in line and keeping them from overwhelming Dr. Susan and whom she was seeing at the time because she didn't really have an exam room to keep people out seeing as she was just sitting under a tree. I noticed a younger girl sitting on a bench surrounded by people who seemed to be in a lot of pain. The more I looked at her, the more I realized that she was extremely uncomfortable and looked as if she might faint. I sat down next to her and asked if one of the volunteers could make sure that she got seen next. The doctor looked at her and remember that she had seen her a while back and informed of us of her diagnosis of lymphoma. She explained that the massive lump on her neck with the stitches in it was from a biopsy and that her father was unable to take her to the hospital as frequently as was needed because he didn't have enough money to do so. My heart broke in that instant. When I heard that I just sat down next to her and grabbed her hand and just held it for 30 minutes while her father was seen by the doctor. This girl was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in India. She had gorgeous amber eyes with long beautiful lashes and yet you could see a deep sadness in her eyes. You could see that this girl had experienced more pain in her life than any child should ever have to endure. We couldn't do anything for this girl in terms of medical care because we simply did not have the necessary medicines or supplies. But I did all that I could and that was just sitting there and holding her hand to let her know that I cared. Dr. Susan later told me that she had never seen that girl as calm as she was that afternoon. Sometimes you don't have to have a conversation with someone to express how you feel and show genuine care and concern for them. It can just be a simple act that can join two hearts.

Checking Blood Pressure

As her father finished and scooped her up on his shoulders, I once again had to look away to hide my tears as I watched that girl carried away on her father's back. It was hard to think about how common a scene this is in countries all over the world. I think all of the the difficult scenes I'd been suppressing up until that point flooded my mind and it all became so much to swallow. I wanted to wave a magic wand and make it all alright for every person in developing countries. I wanted to give them back their health, allow them access to the right medications, or the proper medical care. I eventually had to realize that all I could do in that moment was my small little part of giving of my time and skills to help in some way. I can only hope that my contribution as well as the many other people in the world giving of their time and means can help things change slowly, but surely. I think that sometimes we underestimate how something as little as holding someone's hand can make a difference and if everyone tried to do something no matter how big or little it was, we could all bring about a real change in this world.