The Center...

So, I'm sitting in my mansion (home that has an elevator, atrium, and more space that hotels I've been in. Seriously, my room is at least - at LEAST 1000 sq. ft and beautiful), listening to Matthew West, "The Center", and contemplating everything that has happened thus far. We're about half way through and I can't decide if it feels like we've been here a year or 2 days. The good news I'm adjusting to things like the traffic and eating dinner at 10:30 pm. The extremes are still a lot to digest and I guess I'd rather continually be shocked by them opposed to start to become immune. It is still hard to avoid eye contact with the throng of children that knock on the car windows each time we are stopped at a light or in traffic.

The good thing is that even in everything - it is SO clear that Heavenly Father is HERE and loves his children. Two days ago (Sunday) we started the day visiting 2 polio vaccination sites for the national vaccination day. There are thousands of sites around Delhi alone and they use a bivalent immunization to prevent 2 of the 6 strains of polio. We met the team of doctors who oversee the entire operation - it is a record-keeping, organizational nightmare. There are so many children and the effort is so large....

One really interesting fact is women are actually paid to have their children in the hospital basically so that the children will get a set of shots the day they are born. Apparently many children are born into slums because the mothers are uneducated and think the doctors may hurt more than help. The amount they are paid is minimal (equivalent to about $10), but still it is enticing for people who simply do not have anything. The children are given these immunizations and their left pinky finger is marked with a permanent marker to indicate they've recieved the vaccination. While performing some vaccinations, I accidently grabbed the marker by the wrong end and got it all over my hand. I sort of wondered if it was a special marker (wasn't labeled sharpie or anything) that would stay on the skin and nail longer but after a couple washes the same day - it all came off. This seems insignificant unless you realize that these children just don't have washing capabilities and that's why the marker works - in a week the mark will still be there so the people who go door-to-door or through the slums can tell if the children have had their immunization. Wow....

I took a video as we walked out of the slum....I haven't watched it to see if it even catches everything (I just held it against my chest) or anything...If it isn't too bad I'll post. otherwise, I'll show those interested when I get home....

I can't believe how awake I am....for being sick and having more nightmares (sleeping less than 5 hours), I feel actually very good. Thank you to everyone who has been writing emails - I haven't responded to many but knowing that you are all doing (pretty) well and haven't completely forgotten about me yet is comforting :)