Ami Kolkata Kay Palo Bashi

What an incredible journey...I felt the need to squeeze out one last blog from myself, post 18+ hours of travel back to the States. As my title suggests, in Bengali of course, I know I don't speak alone when I say I have come to love Kolkata and the people and culture it encompasses. It may have taken me almost 3 weeks to get used to the heat, the streets, the noise, and the general chaos; but now that I did I am smack in the middle of creepy quiet USA...a chilly 70 degrees and not a car horn to be heard! I think one of the hardest parts for many of us post-India will be accepting what will happen to those we have come to love back in the City of Joy, and the idea that we have now have no control over their futures. I know all 12 of us attempted to pour as much love and attention as we could into all of those whom we interacted with these past weeks, and now it is time to turn them over to the other volunteers and people who will come in and out of their life.

I could not help but think of one girl, Mary, at ShiShu Bhavan, who must be 14 or 15 years old. She sits alone in bed all day long, the oldest girl there by years, with no one to talk to or play with as the younger kids attend school in the morning and play in the afternoons. I worry that the kids in my classroom will end up like her, in desperate need of peers and attention and more schooling. That, or worse, that they might end up back on the streets without even a bed or 3 meals each day to look forward to. There is some hope, though, at the orphanage; a girl in our class was scheduled to be adopted the day after we left and we watched several children be adopted during our time there. It is hard to know they will look forward to seeing me and Claire's faces every morning and we won't be there anymore, to hand out the play-doh or give out all the high five's and piggy back rides that I know they look forward to. I will miss watching their daily progress learning to share their crayons, discovering more English words all the time, and learning we do enforce consequences if they hit each other! I must trust in the other volunteers they will encounter that they will continue what we did with them.

There are so many words and emotions I continue to feel about Kolkata and everyone we left behind there. We have all discussed how difficult it will be to describe our experiences to family and friends, so I encourage all of you to have open ears and hearts as we begin the struggle to find words to explain all we have encountered since we left. Thank you for all your love and support the whole time we were gone! :)

Love,

Christine

I cannot believe the last day of service has arrived already. I still remember our ride from the airport, all of us seating in the taxi, some of us basically on top of each other and others with "big purple SMC bags" on their lap, full of donation! The first thing that shocked me was how crazy the traffic is here in Kolkata. Cars were coming towards each other in all directions; I really did not understand how the drivers could know what side of the road to drive on so that they would not hit other cars, buses, motorcycles or people walking in the middle of the streets. The second thing that I observed is the extreme poverty in the streets of Kolkata after a "45 minute ride"only. I have seen poverty in many places, especially at home, in Haiti, working in rural areas of the country. I knew that India was a very poor country; however, I didn't think that it would have been so much different then other developing countries I visited. It is really hard to put into words the level of poverty that exists here, in Kolkata. There is not a street you walk by where you don't see people seating or sleeping on the floor with a plastic bag next to them that probably contains all that they have. One of the major problems is the extreme overpopulation and the lack of resources available to 3/4 of the population.
I decided to work at "Shanti Dan", the site where mentally challenged women were taken care of. It was my first working with mentally challenged individuals. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but after 2 days, I became very comfortable in such an environment. I painted their nails, cut their nails, and gave them hand and feet massage with lotion... I enjoyed every second of the time I spent with them. During the second week, I met a 19 year girl who works in the sewing room. There, she spends the day making dresses for the women. We talked more than once about her life until the day she asked me to give her English lessons. She learned a lot for such a short amount of time. As we became close, I thought more and more about ways to help her, maybe how I could become a sponsor... When I left, I got her contact information as she also took my phone number and home address so that she can send me cards and pictures, she said. I am looking forward to be part of her life as well as doing my best to come back here to help more when I am done with my studies in public health; I will have much more to offer to the people of Kolkata.

~Anne-Christele~

Last DAY at MT

Our Last day at Mother Teresa's Home....for many of us it was our last day at MT. It was a bitter sweet moment as the new and old group of volunteers sang to us..."WE THANK YOU THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FROM OUR HEARTS, WE LOVE YOU, WE LOVE YOU, FROM OUR HEARTS, WE MISS YOU, MISS YOU MISS YOU, FROM OUR HEARTS!" It was so hard to say goodbye to the familiar faces we see in the mornings before service. As we all departed for our sites. Kalighat was one house that was full today. We had a group of 16 people, plus us 4 and 5 more veterans that usually come in the mornings. Clothes and dishes were done faster today. But nothing was harder than knowing that you're leaving and the people I have learned to know and see every morning will stay.
Many of the new faces we saw today at Kalighat greeted us as all 20+ volunteers came in to work. Work was done as usual, helping Heather take photo's today was a lot longer than expected. All the women wanted to take a picture with our lovable Heather! Some of us have decided to do service on Monday, before we leave. So in case we forgot to take pictures with someone, we have time. Still, I can't help but to look back and think about my bondu's I have made in Klaighat.
The experience at Kalighat for me has been the most life changing. I was so happy when I saw that we had a nurse today on the woman's ward. For the last couple of days, Natasha, a med. student I met and I have been cleaning the wounds of the patients there. Many of the wounds are not unusual, but the ones that are...will never leave my mind and soul. These women are so strong and I learned how strong the body can be. It is true that a simple smile can help at least to forget for a second the pain that one is feeling.

-Helen

Beautiful Mess

It was great to see more parts of Kolkata yesterday beyond our service sites and Sudder St. area. Seeing all of the places Katie described reminded me that Kolkata is a really beautiful city with such a rich culture. There is so much energy, color and history to see. There are some pictuers at the top of the beautiful mess that is Kolkata.

Being on the tour yesterday also made me kind of sad and it was another reminder of how lucky I am to live the life that I do. Even though we were more than 30 minutes from Sudder St. there still were homes made of garbage and beggars lining the streets that provided images of the widespread nature of the poverty here. It pervades everything and it is hard to escape. The flower market we went to was so beautiful, yet houses with plastic tarp roofs were behind the stalls. Last night Anne led a reflection based on the "Young Writers Project" from the Burlington Free Press. The prompt given to the children whose works were printed in the paper were India and stuck. After reading their poems and free verse, we wrote our own thoughts on words India and stuck. Reflecting on India made me think of how this trip is a constant reminder of how it can be easy to get stuck looking at the world from your own perspective and the bus rides to and from Shanti Dan came to mind. They are one of my favorite but most uncomfortable times of the day. I love knowing that I am on my way to see the women, yet it is cramped and I am usually tired. On the way back it is so hot and I am ready for lunch but I feel my head looking all around me because there are so many fascinating things to take in on the bus. First, the ladies sit on one side and the men sit on another (gender in India is a whole other discussion) and all the people are packed into the seats and the aisle. There is rarely a time when the bus goes mroe than 50 yards without stopping because of a speed bump, another vehicle, person or animal in the way. WIth all of these stops, there is plenty of time to see what is going on outside of the bus. People, young and old, are walking, buying, selling, washing, eating, picking through trash, honking, sitting and sleeping all in one snap shot on the side of the road. The amount of activity is unbelievable but what catches my eye the most is the poverty that the people I see live in. Even though I am uncomfortable, squished on the hot bus, I would be much more uncomfortable living outside of the bus living as the people I see do. I am lucky that I am simply traveling through their life on that bus than being there day in and day out on the same spot on the side of the road.

So for my reflective piece I wrote this. We had 10 minutes so it's no masterpiece but here it goes...

The Morning Commute

The sweat drips down my back
The bus stops again as the honking fills my head
I want to quench my thirst, quell my hunger and rest my body
The bus bumps along
A shanty town comes into view
Garbage, spices and human waste hang in the air
The children run in the street
I look closer
I am no longer thirsty
I am no longer starving
I am no longer tired

Love to all!
-Rachael

Giving Thanks

Good Morning to everyone at home!

We just got back from an all day long tour of Kolkata! Samson from the Blue Sky Cafe guided us from stop to stop throughout the city wearing our matching "God Bless You," on the front and "Blue Sky Cafe, Kolkata," on the back, T-Shirts. We cruised around in two TaTa (an Indian Car Company) SUV vehicles - thank goodness they were air conditioned! We went to the flower market, saw the famous Ganges River, Sir Ramakrishna's Temple, Kali's Temple, a Jain Temple..and SO much more. Ask your loved ones to show you pictures when we get home because we took many! True confessions, though.... after sweating through our pants and "God Bless You" matching T-Shirts...we did end our trip with a cold ice cream treat from the one McDonald's in Kolkata.

About a week ago I started volunteering at Shanti Dan, the home for women that both Anne and Rachael have blogged about. Right next to the large home for the 300+ women that live at Shanti Dan is a smaller home for some of the women's children and/or children that have been saved from the streets. These children range from a week old malnourished infant that is only skin and bones to 11 year olds that are taking this first sewing classes. I have taken on the role of teaching the children English. This class is filled with children that are 3 - 10 years old. There are about 20 children. Everyday they greet me with their huge smiles and a hug saying "Auntie, Auntie is here!" Their faces bring me such joy, but internally, my heart hurts for the children. I have received what feels like endless amounts of education on teaching. It is at a time like this I almost wish I was an ignorant volunteer spending time with the children and playing with them. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and in front of my eyes I see 20 children that are not receiving developmentally appropriate education. Along with all of the other complications of India, the lack of public education is certainly one of them.

In my make-shift classroom, which is a large room, however most of it is filled with rows and rows of empty off-white paint chipped baby cribs, we have a space that is no larger than a single room found in Canterbury Hall back at SMC. The children pull up small chairs to oversized benches that are used for their desks. Now, they are ready. They are ready for me to teach them English. But, none of them understand English, except the sing-a-long ABC, Twinkle Little Star, and Old McDonald songs that one of the Massi's always sings with them when a volunteer is not there. There are no rules set except if one of the children does not behave it is a cultural norm to hit the children and send them to the Sister to get in trouble. I have tried to set "classroom rules and expectation" but they cannot understand me and while doing so I have 3-5 year old children that cannot sit still and are not meant to sit in a classroom yet. Almost all of the children are under the age of 5 and most of them just need to PLAY and use their imagination, but the Sister insists that they must study. Back in Vermont, I work part-time at a preschool, and all I can think of are all the resources we have at our school for our students to learn by using manipulatives, dramatic play, sensory activities, visuals and so much more! The children at Shanti Dan have no visuals, no manipulatives and barely enough pencils and paper to last a week. Thankfully we received tons of donations items from everyone back home so I have been putting them to good use! The children's favorite is the play-doh! Little do they know what a great sensory activity it is for them :) Everyday I am making small steps trying to give the children one-on-one mini lessons to help them learn their English letters, words and numbers. There are so many actions I wish I could take. I wish I could create individual cubbies for the children so there is a place for them to put their daily work, or even folders with their names on them. I wish I could stay there for way longer than 3 weeks so the children for once can have a permanent teacher that loves and cares for them. I wish I could teach them classroom rules and manners that do no include hitting and yelling. I wish I could throw the rows and rows a cribs out the windows to give the children space to dance, stretch, move and LEARN. With all of that being said, while I'm thinking all of these frustrating thoughts... I look over my shoulder and I am so thankful for the Sisters and Massis (the women that work at the homes and care for the children) of the Missionaries of Charity. I see the one week old infant that was saved from the streets of Kolkata... she is smallest person I have ever seen...her little legs are only skin and bone and as the Sister is hold her and feeding her I told the Sister that she has saved that child's life and she smiled at me, shook her head"no" and pointed up to the sky.

It will be hard to say good-bye in a few days....

I feel like I just rambled...and hope I was coherent... but these are my thoughts I wanted to share with you.

Love,
Katie

Prem Dan

Okay, hope all you folks are doing well. It was a hot one in Kolkata today, must have been in the 110's somewhere, add a little humidity and this equals a whole lot of sweat!!! Add this with a bus ride packed to the gills with people. Yeah it gets a little uncomfortable. Luckily, I always stand on the steps of the bus and hang out the door to catch a little fresh air. The buses are pretty interesting. They are split (left side for women, right side for men) Men will sometimes sit on the woman's side, but if a woman gets on the bus they have to give up their sit immediately. So, I have been getting a little frustrated here. Too many cheaters....you really need to know whats happening or you will end up overpaying for everything. I have been riding the bus for the same price now for the past two weeks, and also rode it last year many many times. Still people will always try and charge you way more, so you have to argue....noo brother its 4 ruppees not 6. Knowing a little bengali always helps win an argument too, I have gotten pretty use to this process, but sometimes when your hot (really hot) all you want to do is just sit down on the bus...This is life here, nothing is at a flat rate. Everything is up in the air, if you want something to happen you can probably make it happen. Life having 7 people ride in a 4 passenger autorickshaw. So this was just a little tangent.....

So I work at Prem Dan, its the home for senior men and women and also men and women who suffer from mental/physical disabilities. It is different then Khalighat, it is not a home for the destitute. There is some hope at Prem Dan, but never would it be a place that I'd ever want to end up...The men their have a nice outdoor courtyard. They spend most of their day outside, sitting around, drinking chai. Theirs some great big palm trees out their, as well as several big bird cages filled with all different kinds of parrots. I served at Prem Dan last year and had to go back this year. Most of the men I worked with last time are still there. Some are gone, whether they have passed or have been released I am not sure. Names can be difficult at this place because some men just don't have them. At Prem Dan, I wash a lot of laundry and wash the floor everday. this takes about 31/2 hours. It is the most manual labor out of any of the houses. What I like best though is that washing the floor involves just throwing buckets of water...so nothing is better then getting soaking wet in 110 degree heat. Well to give you a little shock and awe! A man came into Prem Dan yesterday with an ear problem. The problem was that he had maggots in his ear, actually burrowed in his head. I watched the sister pull out some of the maggots. Yeah.....thats all I have to say about that. Theirs a lot of injuries their like that. I really enjoy working their, the men are great. My sandal broke today and they stitched it up for me. Good as new.

This is a good example of how India works...one giant dichotomy. Always polar opposites of each other. The city is fast and aggressive, yet people are slow. Conversations can easily last an hour. Their are so many contradictions that play out here. Its hard to grasp how it all makes sense sometimes. I am sad to say goodbye to this place again...Its difficult to describe and that's where I will leave you....

Derek
PS I had a poop filled day between the old men at prem dan, the street, and especially the kids at daya dan....lots of poop!

Smiles go a long way... : )

YAY! My turn to post. It's a somewhat cooler day in Kolkata, but not really there's just bit of wind intermingling with the scortching heat. We survived election day playing games inside and enjoying each others company and the quiet and peaceful Sudder Street, which to be honest was unreal and kinda weird. Anywho, today as we head into our last full week here, we are venturing to Kali's Temple and a few other places to see in the area. But that's not what I want to tell you about. Although I know Christine already posted about ShiShu Bhavan I wanted to tell you a little bit more about our day there. So here I go... :)

ShiShu Bhavan is just down the street to the Mother House so we do not have to enjoy many different methods of transportation or the hustle and bustle of all the crazy traffic. Our walk home through the busy streets and neighborhoods is one of the most intense illumination of senses. Non-the-less Christine and I just walk our exhausted feet into a large building compound right on the main road. The two huge metal doors are painted rustic orange and only one sports the name Missionaries of Charity: ShiShu Bhavan. We go in the side door to the right, greet a few Massi's and Sisters along our way and continue on to the left down a hallway towards the toddler house. As we enter around 8am, the Massi's are gathering for their morning prayer and we sit with them under the rotating fans as the screaming and yelling of the kids comes from the back. Occasionally one of our kids will meander out to say hello and then get hustled back into their room. At first sitting with the Massi's was honestly really quite awkward. They sit there look straight at you and point to things. You know they are definitely talking about you in a different language that I obviously don't understand and then they laugh. Now, its almost comforting to hear them talking and to sit with them as they all say "Good Morning Auntie" and hold your hand for an extended period of time and tell you to sit down next to them.

The Massi's pray together and sing the most beautiful songs that I will never understand, but love to hear, right before our day gets started. When prayer is finished the head Sister, Sister Joan of Arc, will come out and give the Massi's directions and make sure that they are all there. Christine and I brace ourselves for what we are about to enter into. If you look forward into the large dark room behind the foyer about 50 cribs lay untouched. On either side of the cribs the kids are running and playing in their appropriate areas. We go almost all the way down, unlatch the gate, and enter the overwhelming room of 5 and 6 year olds screaming. In about 2 seconds you are hunched over with about 3 kids attached and clawing at your back. Kids get so excited to see you and just jump and oh man do they have good grips. It can take almost 5 minutes to detach one. By now I have the hang of it and sit down on one of the tables and say good morning to all of them.

There are about 15 to 16 kids in our classroom. I have become very attached to many of them. Two in particular are twins, Jason and Jackson, If I could adopt them... though my mother would would totally not approve at this stage in my life, I totally would and have many a times contemplated it. Sometimes the two can most definitely be a bit much to handle, but I honestly enjoy the challenge. After the first few days Jason jumped into my lap with his tummy lying on my legs. I began to just gently run my fingers up and down his back for almost 20 minutes and he was perfectly content and very calm. Ever since then every morning we come in he has jumped into my lap and slaps his back and says "Auntie" and points to his back. So I just rub his back and enjoy that simple peace while the other crazy monkeys are climbing up walls, running around, and most often hitting each other. We spend almost the next 20 minutes in there until the Massi's either tell us what to do or we decide to take them to school.

What happens next is always a toss up. Some mornings we will go to the park next door to the Toddler House, while other days we will go up to the school. The park is always an experience. Your name, Auntie, is called more than you can count. You push children on the many different types of swings, chase them, collect leaves with them, and get really really really dirty. School is also an experience. Some days we will teach them small words, letters, or objects. I have fallen in love with drawing and writting with chalk for the kids. Today I drew a face, and we went through all the body parts on a face. We had them point to their own ears, eyes, mouths etc. and then we had them help us spell the words outloud. Then we sang Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes and that was a huge hit. The kids knew the words and were so excited to sing along. Then we give them a piece of construction paper and asked them to draw a face. Some were quite interesting while others just drew what they saw on the board. Other days Christine and I bring in dental coloring books, regular coloring books, and play dough. Their little faces light up like the sun when they recieve something new, although sharing can some times be quite the struggle.

No matter what the activitiy however, I really enjoy the joy they bring me and what I can share with them. I can see it in their faces and I can tell by their crys that the yearn for something more and something better. The first day we were at ShiShu Bhavan I was working with Jason he had a fit and the Massi told me to leave him alone. As I mentioned in one of my emails, I challenged myself to stick with him. I can't help it, I saw it in his eyes, he wanted to learn. By the end of that first day he and his brother had written their ABC's out on the board all by themselves! Success. It was such a warm feeling. What helped them get by was encouragement and lots of high fives. Our kids LOVE high fives. It is the most simple and greatest reward that the children just die for. When they have drawn something new, completed a picture, or built the eiffle tower with play dough, they will run over point to what they have done, put it in the other hand and whip their right hand up to hit mine. Sometimes, I'll let you in on a secret, they have only even drew a line or nothing has even changed and they still run over for rewards. The smiles that come across their faces when they do so are just SOOOOO big and full of love.

Our day is split up into to two sessions. One session then break for chai, then another session. We change their clothes and then help to feed them lunch. Once they are settled and almost all are chowing down we head out into the big room of cribs and change the top sheets on all the beds. Then just before we leave the kids run out, climb up and jump into their cribs two by two and lay down for a nap. If we are still there at this point, I love to go around and give each child a kiss on their forehead. I will kiss my hand then stick the kiss on their foreheads. Again this is a moment of small presents, but their faces just rest with joy. Their heads will perch up and their high energy will drop and a small smile will just curl up on their face. Then my morning is done and Christine and I head home.

I told our SMC group last night that a lot of the reason why I do service and my every day goal in life is to make people smile. A smile, though small and simple, can do wonders in a persons day and to a persons heart. These children that I work with every day at ShiShu don't always understand me since we have a strong language barrier, however, a smile does more than words. To see these children smile makes my heart melt with warmth and love. Although I don't know them to well and they have no idea who I am and will probably forget me, our shared smiles becomes our strong bond. The smiles I give them when I am there may be the only smile they get for that day and every day each child deserves a thousand smiles. No matter how sick, exhausted, and over-worked I feel here, I can never go a day without smiling. I have so much to offer, share, and learn that I must always wear my smile.

Though I don't always agree with the ways in which things are done and I am not always in the best of spirits, I know that I must not forget to put on my smile while getting dressed for the day. A smile can most definitely go a long way.

Sending you manys smiles and love from Kolkata.
<3 Claire