Day 5, Polambakkam Leprosy Colony

The days' outfits for the girls

 Today after breakfast, we headed to one of the leper colonies—Pulambakkam.  This was kind of like a retirement home for lepers.  There were only 11 elderly people living there, and the place was very nice.  The hedges were even trimmed!  There was a staff there who cared for the grounds.

We periodically heard shots going off and were told those were to scare away the monkeys.  We think they’re cute, but to these people monkeys are pests.

The people were very grateful and kind.  One lady in particular was just so incredibly happy.  She had an immense smile on her face the whole time.  She, of course, especially loved Lydia.  She “pinched” Lydia’s cheeks then pinched her own cheeks, apparently a way to give someone your love and blessing.  I say “pinched” in quotes because the lady had no fingers on either hand.  Most people had ulcers on their feet, and we each took a turn in the medical station to care for the wounds.   The people are supposed to change their dressings every day, then Rising star goes out to each of 12 leper colonies once every 2 weeks to do a really good dressing change and debride the wounds, as well as provide additional health care.  There is a doctor (a fertility specialist who has a clinic in Chennai) and several nurses.  Charity checked blood pressures, Elizabeth and Brianna cut off the old bandages, I (Brian) washed the wounds, Kristen put liquid paraffin on the lower legs and feet, and Lydia dumped the old wash water between patients.  One elderly man who had a walker did a little dance and song for us.

 After we finished there, we went a short distance to visit the Leprosy Hospital at Polambakkam, which was started by a Belgian, Frans Hemerijckx in the 1950s.  It’s still in operation.  When we think “hospital” we don’t think of a place like this.  It’s a very simple cement building just sitting in the jungle, really, with no doors as far as I could see, and very simple rooms, including two big wards—one for men, and one for women.  There are beds lining each wall, for perhaps 20 men and 8 women.  We walked down the wards and greeted the patients—first the men, then the women.  The typical greeting here involves putting your palms together below your chin and saying “vanakkam”—a general greeting in Tamil.  It seems that singing is a common way to connect with each other here, so we all sang songs.  Some songs were solos in Tamil, and we taught them several simple songs in English.  Charity and I sang our retro mix of “Now is the Hour” (Mauri Farewell Song)/Golden Slumbers” (Lennon-McCartney).  It’s hard to describe the feeling there.  It was surreal to reflect that we were in the jungle, somewhere near a little Indian village, singing to patients in a leprosy hospital.

The doctor was a really nice guy.

Lydia was a real hit with the nurses. Everyone also loves Elizabeth’s fun personality and infectious smile.  Just before we left for home today, she was teasing us by brushing a flower stem along people’s necks to make them think there was a spider on them.

Beautiful Shiva flower