When we learned we would be there for longer tham the anticipated (hoped for) eight-or-so hours on an IV, Allison joked that my stay would be an extended meditation. Turns out it was just that; I had the room to myself, and between visits from my Saint Mike's amigas I spent time reading magazines or contemplating the texture of the eggshell wall opposite my bed. If I had to share a 'rose' from that experience, it was sipping my morning tea while philosophizing about the nature of being and implications of string theory in doing service. I'm totally kidding, but I've learned that I dig tea more than I thought previously.
But there was time and context for reflection. I was placed in the 'Executive Ward' of the hospital, i.e. there were never more than 2-4 patients on the floor, and each of us had spacious accomodations with a TV and porcelain toilets like the ones at home (many Indians are more accustomed to toilets that lie in the ground and require a squatting posture for use). Further, at any given time, I had 2-3 nurses tending to my various medications and overall well-being. I was positively spoiled, and a food bacteria that would have been little (if any) issue for a majority of Kolkata citizens took enough care to treat 10 others in more unfortunate financial circumstances.
We learned during my stay that Mercy provides healthcare to people unable to pay, and our nurse explained that for those patients, they do the best they can with the resources they have. In other words, no way are they able to treat every ill person in need of health care, and when they are, I doubt they get a room to themselves. I was literally and figuratively sitting on the top floor of the hospital, and the money that we paid for my healthcare would have to be spread far and thin as best it could accomodate the other patients who could not pay. I sat in a birds nest of privilege, pondering the extreme poverty experienced by many of Koklata's population from above. This, more than the stomach bug, was hard to cope with.
In lamenting extreme poverty, I think it's important to avoid pity. I also think it's important to avoid describing people and places as poor; people aren't poor, poverty exists in the context of people's lives. I make this distinction because often, rather than alleviating poverty (which is ultimately what I see as an ideal, long-term end of service and social progress initiatives), describing people as 'poor' inadvertently reinforces that reality. We don't want poverty, but we see it; so rather than call a situation 'poor', I find it important to recognize that duality, and do our best to shift that language.
Some days ago, a friend of mine (a Kolkata trip alum) sent me some beautiful prose on the duality of joy and sorrow, from her favorite poet Kahlil Gibran:
"Some of you say, 'Joy is greater than sorrow,' and others say 'Nay, sorrow is the greater.' But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed."
Kolkata is nicknamed 'The City of Joy,' so in this passage I find a certain resonance with my experiences here. If poverty is sorrow, then let us also recognize its necessary counterpart called opportunity. Organizations like the Loreto Schools, one of which operates in Kolkata, strive to fight poverty of wealth and spirit by instilling agency, leadership, compassion and responsibility in their students. Their gates are quite literally open; students may come and go, because they believe that a student need believe in the education they will receive in order for it to do any good, and by creating a system of trust, rather than force, they shape a more holistic human. Freeset, a company that employs former sex workers (all women) to make bags, t-shirts and other goods that are sold internationally, also aids them in accessing the things they need (healthcare, training, housing if necessary), and runs outreach programs all over West Bengal to help other women in the same situation. And obviously, the Mother Teresa organization has been doing incredible work to serve the poor and marginalized in India for over half a century.
There is extreme poverty in Kolkata, but these organizations are a beacon of resilience. Kolkata doesn't have to be poor, and recognizing that is integral if the world is to erradicate poverty in West Bengal and elsewhere.
Peace, love, and all the best,
Ben Rosbrook, '15
P.S. - A VERY happy 20th birthday to our own Andie Gemme!
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