Volunteering at Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India

A year after my first visit to India, I found myself back in this country again with it's unique culture, vibe and energy that was very palpable and it was beyond words can describe because India will be different for everybody who visits this country depending on what he or she is focusing on. I can simply put it as "Incredible India" as it is most often described.

    I was back in India because I wanted to see and explore the south part of India since I just got to visit the north part last year. However, like most of my most recent travels, I do not only sightsee but also volunteer in the places I visit. It is what I call my "VolunTourism Trips". So, on this trip I decided to volunteer at Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa founded this organization in 1950 to work and serve the poorest of the poor. She is truly an inspiration of Love and Service.

    This was how my journey to Kolkata started.  When I boarded the AirAsia plane from Bangkok to Kolkata, I did not know how to get to Missionaries of Charity Headquarters. All I had was the address and the time of orientation. I did pray to God to please send me an angel a.k.a. meet another volunteer in the plane or at the airport that can help me find my way to Missionaries of Charity. And as always, God answered my prayer. As i sat on my assigned seat in the plane, The girl beside me, Queenie Li from China was also heading to volunteer at Missionaries of Charity. TYG !!!

  We took an airconditioned bus for 50 Rupees from airport to an area close to Missionaries of Charity. It took us almost 1 hour to walk from the bus stop to Missionaries of Charity at 78 AJC Road. We got there at 3:15 PM, we were 15 minutes late but did not miss much since everyone was just filling out the registration forms.

   The orientation was about logistics on the start and end times of volunteer days, reminders about safety as we walk from our hostels in Sudder street to Mother House (this is the popular name for the Missionaries of Charity Headquarters) which was to make sure we do not walk alone, reminders that we are not allowed to take pictures at the Mother House or any of the 6 centers that we maybe assigned to because these were not "tourist spots" but we were there to serve, reminders about how to dress and reminders on how to interact with the locals like not giving them  money, not to touch the children on the street even if they are cute because this may encourage inappropriate behaviors. After that, each volunteer was called one at  a time to talk to Sister Maria Mercy. She is in charge of giving each volunteer their assignment. I was assigned to ShiShu Bhavan Dispensary a.k.a. The Clinic. This is where patients come and Sister Doctor Andrea checks the patients and the volunteers give medications and do wound care.

   After the orientation was done and  we headed to our hostel, The Paragon Hotel near Sudder street area. The distance is about 2 km from Mother House. The street is narrow, dirty, filled with trash and poop everywhere. The street was filled with many people, motorbikes, bicycles, carriages carried by a person, tuk-tuks ( aka tricycles in the Philippines) cows,  and dogs. They also like honking so it was loud and noisy, constantly beep-beep-beep-beep. I was wondering if I may lose my hearing after 10 days in Kolkata. There are many stores and shops on both sides on this narrow street selling all kinds of food, meat, fruits and vegetables. The people urinate on the sides of the street and people also take showers on the street and other people washed their faces , plates, clothes using the same water used by the people taking the shower.  Seeing this type of environment was beyond what I have ever witnessed before in my life. I had to hold my tears as I walked on this street, I was in shock and disbelief that there are people living this way. It is true when Mother Teresa chose this area - this is the poorest of the poor. I even told other volunteers that the word "poor" is not an accurate word to describe this type of lifestyle. It was a humbling moment for me.

    Our day started at 6 AM, we attended mass (this was optional) with the sisters and other volunteers who woke up early. At 7 AM, we had Free breakfast with other volunteers. This was an Eat-All-You-Can Chai, Bread and Banana breakfast daily. This was also a time to talk to other volunteers and get to know them. Since I like meeting new people, I often approach a volunteer that is standing or sitting alone in a corner and I would start casual conversations. I met so many volunteers from all over the world like from Italy, Chile, South Korea,  Japan,  Germany, Portugal, Canada, China, France,  USA but during my 10 day stay there I did not meet any other Filipino volunteer.

    The volunteer activities that I got involved in: At ShiShu Bhavan, I got to fed, changed diapers, did range of motion exercises on physically and mentally disabled abandoned children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy between the ages of 4-12 years old. Most of these children are girls, it just showed the type of culture in the Indian society that boys are valued more. I also got to do laundry of these 33 children since they use a lot of clothes and cloth diapers. At ShiShu Bhavan Dispensary Center, this is also known as the Clinic. There were different types of clinic for each day - cardiology, neurology, oncology, pediatrics, OB, Women's Health etc.  Sister Dr. Andrea from Germany is the doctor in charge and Sister Nurse Margaret from India is the nurse in charge. I dispensed medications and also did wound care. But my favorite of all my days in the clinic was our Obstetrics/ Women's health clinic day. Sister Andrea and Sister Margaret allowed me to do check-ups, prescribe medications and I worked with Miho ( a nurse from Japan) who dispensed the medications. The most unforgettable patient I saw that day  was Mrs. Bibi, she was 7 months pregnant and I noticed she lost 3 kgs from her visit last month. I asked her question with the help of the novice sister to translate for me, I asked " Mrs. Bibi you lost 3 kgs from last month. Are you vomiting? Are you not keeping your food down? Why did you lose so much weight?" She replied "We are so poor. I have 2 other children and my husband is a tuktuk driver. We do not have money to buy food so I eat only once a day." Her answer stunned me. I was not expecting this response.  I felt embarrassed for asking the wrong question. It did not even occur to me that the reason she lost weight was because she does not have any food to eat. I wanted to cry that very moment. When there are so much food in countrues like Australia, USA, Canada, UK,  how can there be places where people do not have the money to buy any food to eat.

At Nibo Jibon Center, every Sunday the volunteers have the opportunity to give a bath and feed the street children. So together with 25 other volunteers, I head to this center on a Sunday. It took us 2 bus rides to get to this place. There were about 70 street children waiting for us. They were a happy bunch of kids. We started giving them bath.  I was assigned to towel dry them. The most touching moment for me was, after I have towel dried them and put powder on their skin and oil on the hair of these beautiful girls. They had to put back on their dirty, smelly, with holes clothes. But, as they wear their clothes they wear them with pride and confidence.  I cried because I just remembered the times when I have said " I do not have anything to wear, while looking at my closet full of clothes". But, these kids literally do not have any other clothes to wear. I also helped serve them lunch. We served them rice, dal and curry. They all sat on the ground used rice sacks as their mats. They sat holding their aluminum plates and waited for the food to be served. When everyone got their food, they were all so happy and ate their food like it was the best food ever. These moments that I have witnessed have truly transformed me and reminded me of what matters most.

      As my volunteer ended, I have come to realize how blessed I am and because of this I am committed to make a difference and be a blessing to others. I also know that what I have contributed to Missionaries of Charity is a small drop in the ocean, but I am hoping that the ripples will create huge waves.

   Thank you Dear God for guiding, protecting and leading me always. Amen.