Volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa)

Been meaning to finish this post for a while now, so here goes.

We spent a week volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, which was the order of nuns begun by Mother Teresa in Kolkata. They have a whole bunch of different homes now, from the first Home for the Dying (Nirmal Hriday), to homes for abandoned children, disabled children and adults, teenagers, and a leprosy community.

I hung out at Shishu Bhavan, a home for abandoned/disabled babies, toddlers & primary-schoolers. I was with the toddlers. In the mornings people do more manual labour like cleaning, changing beds, helping with the washing & feeding the children. In the afternoons (when I was on) we helped a bit with making beds and feeding the kids dinner, but we spent most of the time playing with the kids outside.

They had a great little area with murals all over the walls, swings, play equipment etc. It was pretty fun (except for when you get sat on by kids with wet pants!!). They were pretty cute, and I can imagine getting attached to them if I spent more time there.
It was hard though too, because you didn't always know what was ok for them to do and what wasn't, and though their full-time (paid, local) carers were patient with us and them, I'm sure it would have been frustrating for them to be continually dealing with various behaviours that volunteers might allow. And the way (like all kids) they learn to do whatever they can to get attention! Of course, as a volunteer I could see it would be soo much better to be there for the longterm instead of short.
It was tricky not understanding everything that was going on, so time would help with that too! I don't think it'd take long to pick up enough bengali to understand the basics and be understood.

I think overall they seemed well cared-for, and we were happy to hear that nearly all of the babies and toddlers would be adopted out. Many even had adoptive parents already, and were just waiting for the lengthy legal process to go through.

All in all, my impression was that it was much more of a gift to the volunteers to be able to come, join in, and get a taste of life here - than any small service we could perform. The sisters are so hospitable - volunteers are invited to come along to mass in the mornings (at 6am!!), and there is a free breakfast (of bread, bananas and chai) for volunteers afterwards whether or not they attend mass. I was really touched by how gracious and patient the sisters were, in every interaction with one of the many visitors and volunteers.

Red sun at morning

We flew out of Kolkata this morning, farewelled by a brilliantly glowing pinky-orange sun. A light layer of mist silhouetted vanishing rows of trees. Kolkata looked, well, beautiful So I got to thinking about all the other beautiful things of the past week (do you feel another list coming on?)

Colours:
Simple, bright little kites flying above the grimy old buildings; saris hung out to dry flapping like sails in the breeze; the women walking so proud and beautiful in their richly decorated clothes; a little orphan at at Shishu Bhavan happily flaunting her one scarf.

Glimpses:
Two little muslim boys so smart in white suits and caps, hanging off their father's arm; kids playing cricket in a back street, or soccer in the deserted streets of Kolkata late at night; the peaceful napping of stray dogs curled into the neatest round balls.

People:
The grace and patience of the sisters of Charity; a guy giving me a seat even though it was in the male section of the train; shaking hands with and swinging little leper kids, and peeling eggs with the ladies; the laughing smile of the watch-seller at Jasmine's hard bargaining; drinks with Rajesh the laidback tour guy and the many friends who pop in and out of his tiny shopfront.

Krazy Kolkata Part II

Just a few more that came to mind..

-The sidewalks that look like they have been dug up with a bulldozer and then never replaced.
-The taxi drivers going "oh yes yes" when you tell them where to go.. and then halfway through stopping to ask people how to get to the place they're meant to be going! And THEN asking for twice as much because the trip took longer!!
-Having your ID and yourself photographed and your address taken before you can even use the internet ("get tangled in the web").
-No one, like pretty much no one having change - even a lovely restaurant who had already charged 10% for service said "oh we have no change. We keep as tip?"
!!
-Being followed for blocks by people trying to strike up a conversation with you and then get you to come to their shop (or their friend's). "New Market, come to New Market. Very nice place, very high quality.. Where you from? Hello? Hello?"

Oh my gosh, and the naked old holy men at the Jain Temple? Waaay more than we bargained for.

India: !ncredible or !nsane?

Australia farewelled me in fitting form, with a roasting of a sunburn and a stomachful of chips.
Asia welcomed me.. with four curries in under 24hrs (without even leaving an airport!). And as we touched down in Mumbai, there were three little kids jumping and waving the plane in, from their vantage point in the slums.

Incredible !ndia say the tourism posters - and though I've only spent 4 days here, I quite agree. In fact, I feel that "Krazy Kolkata" on a poster for this city would be spot on.
Here's [some of] why:

The streets are insane. Buses, trucks, taxis, cars, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes cows, goats, dogs, cats, squirrels - oh, and people! - they're all there, going every which way. Challenge number one: How the heck does one cross a road?!
And they beep. The. Whole. Time. It's not always an angry beep, more a 'watch out I'm coming through' sort of beep. So as they're always coming through, they're always.. you guessed it.
I've seen signs saying not to beep near nursing homes and hospitals and stuff. But then on the backs of the trucks, it says: 'Horn Please'.
???
There are sacred shrines everywhere, hindu temples, jain temples, islamic mosques (you may even have the good fortune to be woken at ~4:30am by the mullah calling the good muslims to worship. oh joy. but I guess I have been getting up at 5:30 to go to mass, so maybe the madness is catching), christian churches - a bit of everything! There's a whole market dedicated to strings of fresh flowers, mostly sunshine-yellow marigolds to buy to hang on tombs, for offerings, burials, cremations, and more.
Oh and the ganges, the Hindus' holy, holy river? The one where they gather water from to sanctify things with? Yeah well you have probably heard this, but the river is also used to send babies corpses one their way into the next life.. as well as general things like defacating, bathing, etc.
?!?
A quick one which I only just discovered: you have to show photo ID and get it and yourself photographed, and tell them where you live, before they'll let you use an internet cafe here.

I'm sure there are a million more crazy things, but suffice it to say it is also beautiful, humbling, amazing. SO glad to be here.

lucky schmuck

yeah.. that's me.

I can't believe I'm going away in three days! ahh!! So exciting. I feel so spoilt (I am so spoilt!), being able to go overseas again, and join in with people's lives in another part of the world.
..Give and receive, bless and be blessed (I hope!).
Taste and see the differences.
Celebrate common, immortal humanity.
Have fun.
See some cool stuff.
Live courageously.
Spark myself alight on the world...

"Who turned on the lights? You did, by waking up: you flipped the light switch, started up the wind machine, kicked on the flywheel that spins the years. Can you catch hold of a treetop, or will you fly off the diving planet as she rolls?

Knowing you are alive is feeling the planet buck under you, rear, kick, and try to throw you; you hang on to the ring. It is riding the planet like a log downstream, whooping.

What is important is anyone's coming awake and discovering a place, finding in full orbit a spinning globe one can lean over, catch, and jump on. What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch – with an electric hiss and cry – this speckled mineral sphere, our present world."

- Annie Dillard, An American Childhood

There's been a lot of ups and downs to life lately, but I've still got to be one of the luckiest girls around.

Go West Find India

Last week I spent 3 days pruning pomegranates at Condo, because my Dad was working near there and they needed people.. and I could use the cash.

What I didn't expect was that going a couple of hours west would sink me straight into a little India!!
I (and my bro Ben) were working with a whole bunch of guys from Punjab, Gujarat, and Pakistan. They rattled away in Hindi and Punjabi all day long - and I understood nothing but 'Sahib Paul', 'Sahib Cartic', and 'smokee'!

They chewed on tobacco and pruned away to the tinny bollywood tunes bouncing from phones or mp3s. Every now and then the braver (and better at english) ones would strike up a brief conversation with me or Ben.. and the more flirtatious of them threw small pomegranates at me and moaned about how little sleep he got because he was addicted to facebook (um, excuse me but how is that attractive?!) haha.

I wiped sweat from my top lip and prickles from my legs.. and worked on developing blistered fingers, muscular thumbs, and a decent sock tan.

We swilled litre upon litre of chilled water (ah, heaven!).. and at lunch break they shared some of their curry and chappatis with us.

When they found out I was visiting India they were very excited - though a little disappointed when they heard I wasn't going into the north at all, they still tried to think of friends in the places I was going who might be able to show me around!

So despite the 40 degree heat and ensuing exhaustion, it was actually not a bad few days.. :)