I'm Off to India!

Originally posted on August 22, 2011.

Come September 2, I am off to the wonderful Chennai, India!

I will be teaching life skills through the art of movement. This project would not be possible without the support, passion and vision of Shaun Parry and the entire Promethean Spark team, Becky Douglas and everyone at Rising Star Outreach. I am so excited to be able to join the efforts and give all I can to the children at Rising Star. I cannot wait to see what miracles happen around me.

Some of you may be saying, 'I didn't know leprosy still exists'.

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria, Mycobacteriumleprae, which affects the nervous system and exhibits disfiguring nodules and skin sores. If untreated the disease progresses until the visible effects are gruesome, debilitating, and often repulsive to the general public. The people of India and much of the world’s population have and continue to believe today a lot of falsehoods surrounding the disease. A few of these include:

• The individual affected historically, with leprosy has been cursed or punished by God.
• Everyone is susceptible to contract the disease
• All individuals related to a person with leprosy are also carriers and thus unfit to be productive members of society.

Because of these falsehoods, Lepers are cast out and forced to beg for their survival. Rising Star not only helps give them medical attention, but then begins helping them to build a life of there own. Patients are treated over a 12-month period and by the end of the treatment, patients are no longer contagious and continued nerve damage and loss of limbs is prevented. Although, through medical treatment, the disease itself can be stopped, a deeper healing must take place in order for these individuals to lead lives of honest productivity. The patients often believe the stigma society has put upon them; that they are worthless, despicable and untouchable. An even greater task than medical treatment is the challenge of curing the leprosy patient’s self-image and on a grander scale, curing the general population’s misperceptions connected to leprosy and its victims. Combating the social stigmas and self-esteem issues that develop within the patients, colonies, families, and communities due to a lack of understanding and fear are the true challenges we face.

So what part do i play? I get the wonderful opportunity to work with the children on a personal level. I will be there among 5 other volunteers. It is our hope that through the art of dance, we will be able to help break down the barriers of the stigma, and begin building the self-confidence of the students. I will be using movement to teach the following concepts (among others):

• Perseverance
• Agency
• Hard work can be fun
• Personal Responsibility
• Social Responsibility
• Goal Setting
• Confidence is achieved by knowing you can succeed
• Dreaming Big
• Trusting Yourself

and most importantly...

• Loving Yourself

I'm off! Wish me Luck!