Global Outreach: Delphian School Senior Travels to Leprosy Colony
Sheridan, Oregon (PRWEB) July 24, 2014 -- This past spring Delphian School graduating senior, Natasha Ortega, traveled to India with the intentions to tutor children between the ages of four and fourteen in reading and writing, English, math and grammar.
"I went out to India, first because I needed a project, and this fit the description," says Ortega. "However, as time went on and I fund raised more and got more involved, it became something that was a passion for me. I knew I wanted to go and help these people who had no one else to help them, as leprosy is still stigmatized in India. Lepers don't often get medical care or jobs."
On her off days from tutoring, she would go out into leprosy colonies and assist with the administration of medical care, namely taking off old bandages, washing feet, dumping out the water in which the feet had been washed, and applying oil to their legs and feet.
Ortega says her favorite part of the project by far was working with the lepers. "I knew before I went that it would be hard confronting these people who didn't have hands or feet." Once she was there, however, she says it wasn't hard to confront. "I refused to be grossed out, because I knew these people had received that all their lives, and they didn't need it from me. I just confronted it and treated them with all the care and love I had in my heart. They responded with even more love. I've never met such people who love and care for others so fully though they have almost nothing. They thank you so heartily. One man even prayed over me because he was so moved. They are the most beautiful people I've ever met."
Not only was Ortega's life changed forever by this experience, but she was able to help many people during her time there. This is just one example of the many global outreach projects Delphian School students are involved in throughout their schooling.
To find out more about Delphian and its programs, visit http://www.Delphian.org.
Tkeisha Wydro, Delphian School, http://delphian.org, +1 503-843-3521, [email protected]
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