Reality Check

It is amazing the range of emotions you can feel when experiencing a new place. India is like a tree with a thousand branches. Some are long, others short, some soft and many undiscovered. Some days when I return from volunteering I feel far out on a limb of this tree and I can't often describe what emotion I am feeling, only that it is powerful.

On Friday evening we did wound care at Shealdah station. It was a great day, the synergy of volunteering was in full swing. It is amazing to form relationships with the people who live on the streets. It makes getting up at 0430 and working in the extreme heat a privilege rather than a chore. I am honored each day that people allow me into their lives and help them. I learn something new every minute and with that knowledge my experience and tolerance grows. Some of the things I have seen in the past few days are unbearable. For example, Rebecca and I came across a young baby (maybe 4 months) slouched on her mother's stomach on Friday. She was filthy and covered with flies. We went to her and offered milk and food. Her mother didn't wake up. A crowd gathered around us as it often does and bystanders tried to wake the mother, shaking and even punching her in the face. She was so drunk that she didn't even flinch. This poor baby was being cared for by an incapacitated mother. We held the baby, cleaned her and made sure others were watching out for her. I left with a tear in my eyes. Without a moment to clear my head, soon as we went outside, other immediately rushed to us. There is no time to process here, you must treat kindly and non-judgmentally and move on. The young girl who was raped a week or so ago climbed onto my back and I played with her for a few minutes. As always, she had a runny nose so the other volunteers and I tried to clean her up. As squirmy as a rabbit, she tried to hide her face, avoiding our tissues. Even in the safety of our arms, a man appeared from nowhere and slapped her in the face, trying to get her cooperation. I was stunned. I couldn't decided if I should run away with the child or fight this man. The girl started to cry and I did everything I could to hold back tears. It is so unfair. This child of four has already been through more than any one person should in a life time.

Yesterday Ann and I went into Calcutta to visit the Mother Teresa House of the Destitute and and Dying. I was very impressed with the facility. It was clean, caring and had a lot of volunteer support. The Mother's impact on Calcutta is visible in many ways. Her former presence left a quiet optimism that allows many to cope with illness and poverty.

On the train home I met a young woman who lives in Khardah. I told her that Ann wanted to get her nose pierced and asked if she knew of a good and hygienic place. She got on her cell phone immediately and call a beautician asking if she could stay open late and her sister who needed to be in on the activities. We arrived at Eve's Beauty Parlor and after a brief icing and a single 'click', Ann is now an honorary Indian woman, complete with a nose ring. She looks fantastic!

Tonight we leave on an overnight train for Varanasi...more to come.
Katie