Day 24, Sept. 3

Waking up today was exciting as I anticipated going to the Leper Colony. But first was Mass with the Bishop. The chapel was a dirty room with cracked walls slightly decorated to resemble a church. I’ve said Mass in military outposts that looked better. Jesus was present anyway. We were on the campus of two Catholic schools and what will be a modern Chancery building complete with rooms for the clergy and visiting priests.
After Mass and breakfast, I had a personal interview with the Bishop. My guess that he was stuffy man was immediately shattered by his warmth. We hit it off well. He was my first bishop on whom I could try out my understanding of how Love & Care should work. He agreed with me wholeheartedly underlining my points from his stance as a bishop. He agreed that funds for individual project should be funneled though the local bishop and that a relationship between Indian and American bishops would b beneficial. He even agreed to allow his priests to take assignments in the US.
Now, we were off to see the lepers. I had become more and more apprehensive as to how I would react. When we finally arrived, 35 kms later, the MC Sister in charge offered us cold water. This was the first truly (American standard) cold water I’ve consumed since I left the US. The entrance and first buildings were clean and neat (unusual for India up to now). As I continued and looked through one building after another, I realized a few things. The place was clean. When the landscaping gets finished, it will be beautiful. The inmates (as inpatients are called) were all happy. The sisters do fabulous work making them know they are loved. Each patient has either bandages on extremities or prostheses. They were relaxing between therapy sessions. They knew they could get better. No one complained. There was hope.
In one sense I was disappointed in that I did not see the low point o human misery. I witnessed quite the opposite. That’s the difference Christ makes hen h woks though committed people. I was disappointed; but glad of it.
I had a choice of times for my bus. I chose the later of the two so I could see more. I ended up using the diocesan computer for a couple of hours whenever the electricity came back on. (At certain times each place I’ve visited has shut off its electricity to conserve it) That gave me the chance to get my blog close to current.
The ride back was better. I sat next to a man who manufactures and sells fly fishing lures internationally. They did not put on the loud music for the first leg of the journey. However, they did show a Bollywood movie later, and the bus was one again freezing. Because the bus was running late, the driver tried to work his way through slower traffic. This meant he spent half the five hour trip honking his loud horn. Whatever good points the return trip had over the one the previous day were completely voided by the incessant noise. The bus came in at 10:00pm an hour late. Despite that, Peter was there when I descended the bus and walked me back to St. Anthony’s.