We at LoveManifest are excited to bring you a guest blog post from Cardinal Newman High School senior, Tyler Carpenter (age 17). This is an excerpt from his journal written while with us on location in India. I remember this day vividly so was able to include photos below of the actual event. So now, please meet Tyler.

Tyler Carpenter – Age 17 – Cardinal Newman High School, Santa Rosa, CA

Journal entry #4
April 8, 2012
Trichy, India

We began the morning with a trip to the same hospital we visited on the sixth. No welcome ceremony this time, but the medical camp opening ceremony took a good 45 minutes. The room was packed with a couple hundred people needing care. Before the camp started, we toured the leprosy ward of the hospital.

We saw one man that had spent the last 17 years of his life in that room. It occurred to me that he may stay in that room for the rest of his life. It was obvious that the social stigma attached to leprosy was still quite prevalent: the ward was a good 200 yards away from the main hospital and was the facilities’ oldest, most decrepit looking building.

We made our way to the women’s ward and spent some time visiting with them Before we left I made my way around the room holding the women’s hands.

The simple act of another human touching the women obviously meant a lot to these women, it was an emotional time for everyone. The women took my hands in a prayer type gesture and pressed my hands to their foreheads in thanks with tears in their eyes. There was no cure for these women but I feel like I helped their emotional healing begin. For the first time in India, I felt like I was actually making a big difference.