Done with medical camps.

We finished up at the second school today. I requested, and was granted, the help of the two 7th grade girls that helped me yesterday, Radhika and Kavya. It was such a pleasure to work with them, and get to know them a bit.

A lot of the kids had dental referrals, and we were giving them CANDY after they had seen everyone. Not only candy, but Halloween candy. The suckers were fine, but the huge bag also included "Body Parts", things like fingers, feet, brains, eyeballs....we didn't give those out.

We finished up mid-afternoon, then the kids put on a dance presentation for us. Once they got done, school was about to let out so all the kids were in the courtyard. I saw Radhika and Kavya, and wanted to say "goodbye" to them. I was mobbed. It seemed all 400 kids wanted to shake my hand. And people wonder why I keep coming back.

At the camp, we discovered 2 kids that were suffering abuse. A little boy who said his parents just used to beat him with sticks, but now were burning him with a hot knife. He had 5 burn wounds. Today, it was a beautiful young girl who was also being beaten. Both sets of parents will be seen and talked to, and the kids may be put in the crisis center for their own safety.

Since the medical camp got over early, I was able to help with the construction crew, doing some painting on the shelving units they had built. The construction crew had intended to tile all the classrooms at the first school, but because of how it hard and different local construction is, they were only able to complete 2 rooms with the help of professional Indian tilers. At first, the crew was disappointed and discouraged that it would not work out, but they jumped in and assisted the tilers and also tackling a bunch of other needed jobs around the center. They found out today how amazed the Indian tilers were that the foreigners had "served them", by helping haul tiles up to the second floor, mixing cement, etc. That type of thing NEVER happens in India. They will never forget that.

We had dinner tonight with our hosts, got to hear stories of how the center is changing this city, stories of women and children at the crisis center, and their vision for the future. It was an outstanding evening. Tomorrow, we will finish the construction jobs, which I plan to work on, and have some tours of some facilities in the afternoon.