Today we went to a leprosy colony about an hour away called Barathapuram. The community is adjacent to one of the few leprosy hospitals in India. It’s Rising Star’s “model colony”—the locals have used the grants from Rising Star wisely and repaid what they’re expected to, and so they’ve received a lot of help and been able to make a lot of improvements to their community.
Water supply in the summer is a huge issue there, so one of the things that Rising Star has done is drill a well to replace the old one, whose water was so impure that it couldn’t even be given to cows. We looked down into the old well, which was maybe 30 feet deep, adjacent to a public latrine, and bone dry. The new well was drilled by a contractor and is 490 feet deep. It’s made a huge difference; locals who used to have to go a kilometer for water now have immediate access to it.
Rising Star also built a community center for the village, and they are in the process of adding a computer center there. The community center is important because families of leprosy patients usually aren’t permitted to rent reception halls, and even if they are it’s a burden to travel there.
We toured the local preschool (called a “creche”), and of course Lily enjoyed herself playing with the little kids.
Rising Star makes “microloans.” Actually, Rising Star provides the capital to a community council, which lends the money to locals and then receives repayments so that the money can be re-lent to others. One such loan was to a woman we met who travels to Chennai from time to time and buys dresses and saris wholesale, then brings them back to the village to sell. Lily bought one for a few hundred rupees. Another loan was to a lady who needed capital to buy inventory for her “petty shop,” a tiny hole-in-the-wall store for the village. And several loans to villagers have been used to purchase cows. The cows cost 30,000-45,000 rupees ($450-700). Rising Star will lend 20,000 rupees of that amount, which must be paid back within 10 months.
Chatting with the Rising Star guy who was leading us around, I asked him about employment prospects in the area. He said that laborers are typically hired on a daily basis, and under the law they are supposed to be paid at least 400 rupees ($6.30) per day, though that doesn’t always happen. Skilled laborers such as masons and electricians make about double that. He said that poorer laborers from northern India come to the relatively more prosperous south, and have caused some problems. Often they’re brought by professional middlemen who bring them down, find them jobs, and keep part of their wages.
As we were walking around, Lily was carrying a little flower that she picked off a bush. She got yelled at by a peasant woman because apparently that type of flower is for the exclusive us of a particular god, and people aren’t supposed to use it. Our guide was concerned that Lily might be offended, and pointed out that besides, that flower has sticky white sap that can be a skin irritant.
Finally, we went to a local art studio where leprosy patients create pictures using Indian materials and motifs. Some of them were really cool, and I bought a couple.
Indians always eat with their fingers. I’m not a big fan of that to be honest, especially since the food is almost always liquidy or some kind of a stew, but usually there’s no getting around it. Sitting around and eating with the kids a couple days ago I had my plate and was eating kind of gingerly with my fingers. The kids asked why I was only using my thumb and two fingers. I said I dunno. They showed me how you’re supposed to do it, which is to take a bite of food and put it on your four fingers, then use your thumb to push it into your mouth. It actually works pretty well!
This afternoon I was asked to make a presentation to the ninth graders at the school. Rising Star’s school on the campus where we’re staying serves students through tenth grade, which is when high school ends in India. Originally established because family members of leprosy patients can’t get into normal schools, this school is so good that lots of local people come now, and they have a reasonably decent chance of going to college and succeeding if they work hard. I talked to the class about what it takes to be a lawyer in the US—how much schooling it takes, what you have to be able to do, how to get clients, and so forth. I showed them our website, and a video of me talking about the law. They thought that was pretty cool. One particularly bright young student (named Jennifer!) asked me about whether I’ve had any interesting clients lately, so I told the class a story or two about some challenging clients I’ve had.
Little girl at the village preschool
Kids at the preschool
Kids at the preschool
Permanent community trash bins donated by Rising Star
Villagers make these chalk dust designs outside their homes to welcome visitors
A really nice house in the village
This house gate has a welcoming design on the ground, as well as scary demon faces painted on the posts. The scary faces are designed to ward off evil spirits. They're necessary because the house is a nice one, which means it would otherwise be attractive to those evil spirits.
The "petty store"
Lily with the artist who painted the picture she bought
Me with the same artist
Inside the art studio
The class where I gave my career presentation. That's Jennifer looking at the camera.
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