The cat says "This is relevant to my interests"

(The title is mildly relevant, don't worry.)

We're having a wonderful time here, and the only thing that makes us unhappy is what's going on in our lower intestines. The team has been getting along well, and everyone is in high spirits. Today we went to a free medical clinic that Harvest India set up in the middle of the street in a village. It blocked off the entire road and there were several hundred people there for vitamins, antibiotics and a doctor's checkup. It's a little bit of a preview of when we get to ride in the ambulance/mobile clinic off into the boonies and help treat people. I'm really excited to finnally see the gift that we raised. Thank you to everyone who helped fund the amubulance. We're excited to see it. We'll have video and pictures when we get back.

Two days ago they took us to an orphanage. The orphans sang for us and we passed out candy, and afterwards we goofed around with them. The girls played patty cake type games, and the men challenged the boys to tests of strength and physical prowess (thumb wars and arm wrestling). My favorite game was the one where the entire orphange grabbed my wrist and we played tug of war with my arm, 30 vs. 1. I was winning until a smart kid came behind me and start pushing my back and threw me off balance. The kids were chanting "Champion! Champion!" whenever they won.

Yesterday they took us to a home for the elderly. They were amazingly welcoming and kind. The home welcomes eldery people from all castes and religions. There are many dalits (the lowest class, often refered to as "untouchables"), but we also met some brahmins (the highest cast) and other rich people. They were so happy to see us and wanted us to pray and bless them. I couldn't find enough to say, so I ended up blessing them with "Live Long And Prosper" (and yes, I held my fingers the right way when I touched their heads).



So many of them had injuries or sickesses, and they asked us to pray for their medical bills because they have so many. The doctor was there when we were. He was looking at a man who had slipped and busted up his knee earlier that morning. I feel like I touched and prayed for every single person there. Suresh tells us that someone dies about once a month, and they are lucky when no one dies for 3 months in a row. They bury everyone with dignity behind the home (Suresh pointed to a lush banana orchard that looked like a peaceful place to be buried).

Afterwards we went into the elderly home's dinning hall and across from where we were sitting a passage from the book of James was painted on the wall. "Pure and undefiled religion in the eyes of God the father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and remain unstained from the world." I thought it was particularly relevant to our trip.