From Kolkata with Love

Tomorrow at this time we will be entering our last 24 hours in the city as a group. Although Emily, Bri and I will travel on to Darjeeling for the week, when we return our weekend here won't be quite the same without the energy of this whole group of people. There are a few really important things that I will miss about these wonderful three weeks we spent together: 

1. Washing and hanging laundry at Shanti Dan, especially time spent on the roof and the views of slums, families of pigs and Kolkata buildings from up there. 

2. All of the smiles at Shanti Dan - especially Suporna's, Asha's & Laloly's

3. Bani's smartness and Baby's sassiness

4. Rickshaw rides

5. Colors in so many places - especially beautiful sarees of the women and the sarees hanging in the inner section of the Freeset building.

6. Kate's Greek/goat/old person voice. Hello plz. 

7. Jacqui being a feminist.

8. Matt's lunar calendar.

No. Really, Matt's thoughtfulness, vulnerability and sharing of self, especially through sickness early on.

9. Mary's loud, beautiful, exuberant laugh. 

10. All the "sleeper cells" - especially Cara's one liners - funny or thoughtful

11. Blue Sky guys and Akash at Sunshines taking care of us

12. The comfortable, clean and lovely grounds of Baptist Mission Society, and all the kind people here taking care of us as well

13. Emily's insight and perspective

14. Brian's curiosity and willingness to try new things

15. Mark at Freeset, his accent and his wisdom

16. Absolutely everything about 8th Day Cafe

17. Mango at lunchtime and ice cream slices at dinnertime

18. Bri's thought processes and passion

19. Christine Bean's maturity, honesty and care for others.

20. Anu's prayers

21. Laughing and talking all the time, especially at our reflections, especially when I could wear my matching pajama set. 

22. The funny little smile with the teeth we've taken to doing

23. Kinder surprise eggs

24. Taking care of and holding up wonderful humans as we make this trip together. 

25. Feeling and giving love everyday. 

My overwhelming feeling as we go into our last day of service at the Missionaries of Charity and prepare to part ways on Sunday is deep gratitude for what I've learned through this experience leading a phenomenal group as well as what we've been able to share together in this very different, very special place. 

Thank you again to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey. 

From Kolkata with Love,

Sunny '12

"It takes a village. Literally."

"It takes a village. Literally."

Namaste! Hola! Hello!

  My name is Jacqui and this is my first time blogging ever, so bare with me. It is the first of June (which is also my older brother Paul's 23rd birthday...happy birthday!) and Kolkata is just as hot as it was two weeks ago when we arrived. It is our last week volunteering at the Mother Teresa homes. Emily, Sunny and I are volunteering at Shanti Dan. Shanti Dan, which translates to "House of Peace." Here, there are girls and women with a range of mental and physical differences and disabilities. It has been a tough couple of weeks but it is also great to start making connections and start seeing smiles appear.

  Today was tough because Sunny and I were on unofficial "bathroom duty." We had to bring quite a few to use the bathroom, which means, for girls who are wheelchair bound, we have to physically pick them off the wheelchair and put them on the toilet seat. In the Kolkata heat, picking up and putting down people is a lot of work. 

The first girl we had to put on the toilet, C, spoke pretty good English and understood us pretty well. I must say, it was a comedy show for C to watch me and Sunny. We were dumbfounded and clueless at how to even begin. C was talking to us in Bengali, the one words which we know are "good", "hello", "beautiful" and "I think you are a good person". (Thanks Bean/Sumil!) She kept telling us things in her language while Sunny and I kept looking at each other, wide eyed like a deer in headlights. "Maybe if you grab her feet.nope not that foot the other.." "You get the left side..ok the right.." "How about we just get help?" At this time, after witnessing Sunny and I pretty being two of the Three Stooges, C started to laugh. At us. We realized as we were about to leave the bathroom to head back to the classroom that C was saying, "My shoe! My shoe!" In a fit of stress and confusion, us two volunteers realized we didn't put C's shoes back on. But she knew. And she laughed. "It takes a village" said Sunny, referencing to all the help from the mashi we got in order to get one girl to use the restroom.

 However, I feel that this saying could be used in a broader sense: that a community of help and support is essential to get the job done. Ranging from the needed bathroom trips, to doing two hours of laundry a day, to feeding and carrying girls into bed, the Mother Teresa homes rely on volunteers to help run them. Also, they rely on us volunteers for a good chuckle :)

     Jacqui