The last few weeks have been amazing. This second session we have only a small group of volunteers, but that doesn't mean it’s less fun. All the volunteers are inspirational and contribute to Rising Star Outreach in their own way.

Because it’s a smaller session all the coordinators get the chance to see the other rotations. And so far I like them all. Every rotation touches a different emotion. I really loved going out to medical and see how thankful and loving the people in the colonies are. When you are taking care of their wounds or taking their blood pressure and you look in the eyes of these wonderful people, you feel a real connection to them. Sometimes they will tell you their dreadful stories. It amazes me how happy these people are after all that they have been trough. Medical touches you emotionally.

The education rotation is the rotation that hits you mentally. We always work with the kids one on one and this is a great system. You get to know the kids a lot better thanks to education. Because of the one on one system you can help a student a lot better and work on the aspects they have problems with. The day had a lot of different classes from PE to English, the variety makes the day even more fun. I have to be honest; Value Education was a little hard for me last week. As a Dutch girl I didn’t know the meaning of the word Reverence. So I’ve learned something new this week. Emily is doing an amazing job as Education Coordinator.

As coordinators we had to fill in the PE hours last week. The PE-teacher went on his honeymoon (Congratulations!). It was fun to work with the kids. We let them run laps and do a warm-up. After that they were free to choose the games they like to play. The boys played a lot of soccer and the girls play tennis, kabbadi (very interesting) and throw ball. Actually it felt  like a second, third or fourth playtime sometimes. The higher Standards were very well behaved. The younger ones liked giving us a little test and they were all over the place. It’s hard tough to get angry when you see their cute little faces. Teaching the PE classes was a nice experience.

And last but not least, we have the physical aspect of the sessions: Construction. As Community Outreach Coordinator this is still my favorite rotation. We are still building on the latrines in Chettipuniyam, but we are making a lot of progress. At the moment we are building the brick walls. I have to be honest tough that I was a bit shocked when we put the dirt (we have been digging out for 3 weeks) right back in to the holes again as foundation. But….. Seeing the progress makes me proud of the hard work we've been doing so far. I really hope we can finish them this summer.

Every day we went on the construction rotation it has been a lot of fun. I started a water fight with the first session and it’s still going on. We dance to the music, laugh with the colony members and joke around with the Indian workers. It’s working hard every day, but most importantly it is fun every day we go out there. The feeling of actually seeing the work you’re doing is very rewarding.

Although it’s a small session it has been a lot of fun so far. I’ve been excited and thankful to see the other rotations. I learned a lot this session. It is very precious to work closer with the colony members, the kids at campus, but also with the volunteers. Every coordinator is doing an amazing job. The volunteers are very energetic and work hard. Thank you Alexandra, Tregani, Hadley, Maurine and Melissa for making our rotations even more awesome then they already were!

PS: Mysterious things happening on campus... When I just arrived at Rising Star I got of on the wrong foot with one of the goats on campus. The goat’s name is Carl. He is a little bit of a stalker and likes to stare at you through the window. Everywhere I went, there was Carl the Goat. This session a lot of pictures of Carl appeared in my room, my favorite bathroom stall and even in the colony. 

 --Claartje America
Kikindia

Community Outreach Coordinator 

(Netherlands)