Donations

Part of my responsibility as a volunteer is to raise donations for Rising Star Outreach. Clicking on this picture will link you to my donation page and from there you can donate money to Rising Star. It is quick and easy. Every dollar helps!

-EAW

Things I have Learned:

1) Tamil (the language that they speak where I am going) is only spoken in the southern part of India. 80% of India speaks Hindu.

2) Tamil seems very hard to learn.

3) The students on Rising Star campus speak English and we are encouraged to speak as grammatically correct as possible to help them.

4) Saturdays we travel into Mahabalipuam, a beach town.

5) It is very very very hot there.....

-EAW

Volunteer Packet

My dear friends,

So today (after having submitted the waivers and initial $500 fee) I received the second volunteer packet!! I'm so excited!
We will be staying in a large house called The Elephant House. There are separate halls for each gender and in each room there are 6 - 8 bunk beds. I hope I don't snore! (or sleepwalk or have nightmares which are all a problem).
Traditional Indian meals are provided for us each meal, but in case I don't want to eat Indian food for three weeks (even though I love it) volunteers are welcome to bring snacks like granola bars, fruit leather, peanut butter, Nutella (Yum!), chicken, tuna, Ramen, etc. In the mornings we all get together and share breakfast and so we are asked to bring cereal to share. I'm thinking Lucky Charms or Cheerios. Which one? One is clearly healthier, but.... For dinner we all gather together and share what we learned.
So I guess we all have to be ready to go by 8:00 each morning.... That'll be buckets of fun.... At 6:45 every night is dinner and then we have personal time at 8 pm.
There are absolutely NO public displays of affection. This is very taboo in India and so there is no hugging, hand holding, etc. Good think I'm an anti-physical person :D
We are strongly discouraged from giving the children things, instead they earn stars and they can spend them in the Star Store. We can bring things to donate to the store, like coloring books, crayons, jewelry, ties (for the boys), nail polish, games, bubbles, etc. The store teaches them the value of earning and saving instead of begging.

I'm so excited to go!! More will be posted soon!

-EAW

India?

My dear friends,

Hey! My name is Annie, I'm fifteen and live in Utah, USA. I love reading, writing, hanging out with friends, and.... traveling! This summer my father and I are going to India to volunteer with Rising Star Outreach. We help in the leper colonies by building, teaching, and helping in various other ways. This going to be my "journal" of sorts. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to ask me questions as we go :)

-EAW