Leah's 1st Trip to India

Originally Posted December 3, 2017

In 2016, I traveled to Hyderabad, India for work and it was an amazing and life-changing experience. When I agreed to go I knew it would be a challenging trip, though I never could have prepared for how it would make me stretch and grow as a person. I was fortunate enough be traveling with a supportive group of OTs (occupational therapists) and SLPs (speech-language pathologists) that made our journey less intimidating.

Our goal was to work with the staff at a few homes for orphaned children with special needs, to help their caregivers understand how to best care for these children. We worked in 4 different homes with these caregivers and children every day. I was amazed by how many children there were in each home. And by how hard their caregivers worked to provide them with everything a child needs. It made me realize how much children belong in families. Families who are able to love, support, and cherish them completely.

We worked so hard with the children and caregivers in this setting to pass on all the tips and knowledge we could to help them give these children the best chance at a happy and productive future. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking simultaneously. It was beautiful and hard and frustrating. There were times where I just needed to cry and lean on my team. I left India knowing I needed to do something more; all these thoughts and feelings have been near the surface since.