Two months later - Laura

It has been two months since I left Kolkata. Many things have been happening but it has recently been on my mind that I need to do a "wrap up" of my time in India. Ally and I have had a few good talks about our time there but our immediate separation from each other made it difficult in the critical weeks after return.

We found ourselves, after a long day in hospice clinicals, lounging in chairs in the basement of the house we are renting. Stories of people we met and things we did came back to us as we laughed and occasionally shuddered. Highlights included a woman named Sanjucta who always asked us for water to wash her hands. One Sister explained to us that hand washing was a way to deal with the fact that she was associated with a lower class when originally, she was much better off. For one reason or another, her family disowned her and she ended up in Kalighat. I enjoyed my time with her, caring for her wounds and getting her water. "Hey Sistah!" she would shout from across the room when she caught site of us. I miss her.

Malti was another woman I got to know well.  I was one of the first ones to feed her a meal when she first came in. I wonder when the last time was that she had had a good meal. It took a lot of patience because it was difficult to feed her since she was laying on her side away from me. I found out later why she always was on that side; on the other side were huge gaping wounds.Every day during my wound care rounds, I would take care of her wounds while she was still in bed. She would look at me, crying, with sorrowful eyes as the pain of what I was doing took hold of her. A few times, my good friend Maddie, would be able to sit with her and soothe her while I was cleaning her wounds. Sister Karuna assured me they would eventually heal. I hope they are on their way.

I miss these woman and hope they are doing well. I know I will meet them in heaven where we all know the same language! I'll finally get to know what they were saying to me all those times (I am pretty sure all Sanjucta ever wanted was to wash her hands).

Keep Ally and I in your prayers as we continue to reflect on our experience. Thank you again to all who supported us with money and prayers.

Love, Laura

Laura's post

If there is one thing I have learned in the past few weeks, it is to always hold the hand of my Mother whenever I am out and about in Kolkata! I have had the opportunity to become closer with some of the MCs and picked up on the wonderful habit of praying the rosary while driving in a taxi, walking, or washing the laundry. Mother Mary has been my constant source of protection and peace. Whether it be crossing the street or needing healing from some physical or emotional ailment, Mother Mary has shown herself faithful. In adoration two nights ago, I was struggling with a negative emotion quite intensely and I didn't know what to do. A small voice spoke to me and said, "Why, put it in the hands of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots!" Immediately I prayed, and Mother Mary took the negative emotion and gave me peace. If you have never heard of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, I would love to introduce you! She has been my patron on our trip to Kolkata and will continue to be throughout the rest of my life, I am sure.For more information about this specific devotion to our Mother, check out the link below. From what I understand, She is particularly helpful with family "knots" that seem impossible to undo.

http://www.theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots

A bit of a practical update is in order. I have not been at Kalighat recently. I am teaching Sr. Josipa, a uncharacteristically tall MC from what was previously Yugoslavia. What could I possibly be teaching an MC? Well, she needs to learn how to use a computer. The MCs are building a new building and they are being asked to pay exorbant taxes. I am helping Sr. Josipa figure out the Indian tax system to see if the taxes are legitimate or if they are being ripped off. Imagine trying to teach someone what Google is.We are still working on the concept of a web address, but we are so close! I am also teaching her how to do various other things like emailing, Microsoft Word, and their scanner. I am enjoying the one on one time immensely. Later this week she is going to dictate a document to me. When I volunteered to help, I thought it was a one day thing, but now I will be doing it until we leave (even putting in some "overtime". Do you think I will get overtime graces? Just a thought...). I am planning on going to Kalighat tomorrow afternoon to say goodbye to everyone there.

For all of those who gave me prayer intentions, they have now all been prayed for at Mother Teresa's tomb plus they were all offered up at a special mass said at her tomb every Friday. 

Our time is slowly winding down. I look forward to being back with my family in Minnesota soon!

Allie's Post

As we come to a close, the fruits of this mission trip are only beginning to show.  I think that when God blesses us with opportunities to give of ourselves, the seed that is mission work tends to bloom and become more beautiful over time.  While we may not be physically present as tabernacles holding Jesus within for the poor, His work still remains.  If even one soul became closer to Jesus during our time here, then our mission would be complete.  Without being able to communicate through words, all we had to offer was love relying heavily on faith. 
What I have found in my time here is that life is a daily mission.  United with the Church, we are called to be bearers of Christ wherever we are, at all moments.  And what is the purpose of this?  Why is it not enough to carry Jesus in our own hearts?  Because love that has been given to us should not stay in our souls.  It needs to reconnect with its source and it wants to continue through us its drive to give of itself.  Jesus thirsts for our love and the love of all souls and it is only through our work for love of Him that we could even begin to quench that infinite thirst.  Mother Teresa dedicated her entire life to quenching the thirst of Jesus on the Cross through laboring for the salvation and sanctification of the Poorest of the Poor.  But she always said the poverty of being unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.  This poverty is found everywhere in America, from our neighbor to the man in the car next to us.  Mother Teresa only did small things with great love, always remembering that "the smallest act of PURE LOVE is of more value to her [the Church] than all other works together." -St. Therese
Our response is to humbly recognize that we need Jesus, to love Him with confidence and give ourselves fully to Him as Mother Teresa told us: "Give yourself completely to Jesus.  He takes you as an instrument to accomplish wonders under the condition that you are infinitely more conscious of His love than your weakness.  Believe in Him, put yourself into His hands in the spirit of blind and absolute confidence, because He is Jesus."

Disclaimer

I just wanted to make a little disclaimer that any personal trips Ally and I take come from our personal funds, not from the money we fundraised.

Ok photo time!  A brief snapshot of Kolkata.  There are no photos of Kalighat or any of the work we are doing because, as we mentioned before, pictures cannot be taken until the last day.  So these are a few of our daily life experiences!

This is the road our hotel is on. Down at the end of that road is Sudder St.  Directly behind us is our hotel.

The wonderful Hotel Galaxy! The owners are so great...every so often they'll buy us a Bengali sweet or samosa (potatoes, chickpeas, and spices wrapped in fried dough!)

Homes along Sudder St.

An auto-rickshaw! These things can be crazy. Many have stereos in them where the drivers enjoy blasting music and driving as crazy as possible. Probably the fastest way to get around Kolkata.

Mother Teresa's tomb.  The Sisters decorate it daily and every Friday Mass is said in this room and all the intentions in the prayer box are offered up that week.

Typical scene

Our hotel owner, Harry! Behind him is a board where vistors can write about their experience.  People from all over the world stay here. He told us eventually he wanted the hotel to be solely for Missionary of Charity volunteers.

The finest in anti-lice protection gear.  When Pam got lice, we were guaranteed to be safe with these babies (yes, that is my rain jacket wrapped around my head and yes, that is a pink blanket on Laura's head)

I came down with an intestinal infection a few days ago and had to spend 2 nights in the hospital.  While I was there, I found out Americans are not common in these parts. I discovered this when the nurses began to bring in their friends and take pictures of me on their cell phones!  They were very sweet though and invited me to hang out with them in this nursing station while they played with my camera and I taught them some English. Lots of fun!

A couple of cows feeling right at home

Looking down from the bridge onto a busy street

Probably my favorite scene in India.  It is quite common to have herds of goats and sheep walking down the street.  When it rains, they all huddle together under any dry space they can find. Some of the spaces these goats fit into are impressive!

The group!

This is on the walk to Kalighat.  This cow has been on that trash pile almost every single day we've walked by.  Nice place to hang out.

I had never seen so many people in my life.  This was during rush hour in Kolkata.  It took 2.5hrs to go 15 miles by bus!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura's post

Today is the first day of just me and Ally. The rest of our group is on their way back home. However, that doesn't mean things are quiet in room 4! Ally and I still have two roommates, one is just now from Germany. I'd tell you her name but I honestly have no idea how to spell it. She is very nice and I have enjoyed getting to know her! We will only be at Hotel Galaxy for four more days, then we are taking a few days off to travel on an overnight train to Darjeeling. It is near Nepal and on clear days, you can see Mt. Everest. Please start praying now that it will be clear! After Darjeeling, we will still have ten days left in Kolkata and will be moving to a place called Monica house. This is near the Motherhouse and is the perfect location for our last ten days since it is quiet and peaceful. I plan on taking a lot of silent time to gather my thoughts and experiences.

Currently, I look very much like an Indian. I am wearing a very typical Indian outfit. It's a long shirt (to my knees) with matching loose pants, tapered at the ankles, and a matching scarf. The fabric is light and airy and is very enjoyable to wear. The outfit is modest, pretty, and comfortable. You really can't get much better. I even just had someone on the street say I look like an Indian. Mission accomplished.

Everything at Kalighat is going well. Yesterday, the doctor from Italy left, and so I am learning her job. It seems like most days, all day, for the rest of the time I am here, I will be doing wound care. This involves removing bandages, cleaning the wound, and re-bandaging. I am currently working with a veteran nurse of ten years from the Czech Republic, but she is leaving in a week. Soon it looks like Ally and I will be taking over completely. It's a huge responsibility, especially because infection control is hard. At home, we always use strict sterile technique with wounds (this is much more involved then just wearing gloves). Here, we use gloves that have been previously used and washed. I do switch gloves and wash my hands with each patient. I am going to think of ways to be as sanitary as possible.

Since my job will be this now, I am passing on my blood pressure job to Madison, a student from Seattle. I am sad to do this because I enjoyed having those few minutes with the patients doing something with them that didn't hurt. But I know she will do a great job and will enjoy it as much as I did!

Allie's Post

After more than a month working at Kalighat, we've had the opportunity to get to know the patients quite well, despite the language barrier.  While Kalighat is "The Home for the Dying" and can be quite intense at times, it is also very joyful!  I have been able to get to know the women especially very well.  It's nice to be at the point where I am able to anticipate what they need and understand what they want when they get upset.  Many of the women are mentally ill, which can make certain tasks like taking medication and eating difficult. 

A woman was brought in a couple weeks ago with a broken leg and is almost completely blind and mentally ill.  She was found laying in the train station as almost all the patients at Kalighat are found.  Many people that the volunteers at the train station (John) pick up are sent in from villages in the country.  Basically, the people of the villages will take those who are deathly ill and put them on a train and send them off, for what reason I'm not sure.  These people arrive at Howrah train station and will crawl off or be thrown off the trains and just lay in the tunnels under the streets to die.  This woman was one of those people.  Now, the first time I met her was when I was going to give her medication.  Sr. Florentine warned me that she might be difficult.  I did not think much of it until I walked over to her bed, looked up and saw her sitting there, eyes wide and hand covering her mouth.  I offered it to her and she promptly started screaming at me in Bengali (it's probably best I don't understand anything).  Needless to say, Sr. Karina came to the rescue and was able to take over.  Since that day I have been attempting every method to get her to take her medicine.  Probably the worst one I tried was telling her it was "pani" or "water".  She gave me an untrusting look (with good reason) took a sip of the medicine and then spit it on me. I probably had that one coming at me :)  It is now my goal though to gain her trust AND have her willingly take her medicine.  I'll keep you updated on the progress!

One of my favorite women is a little old woman with Parkinson's.  She has the tiniest, cutest, most high-pitched voice and just sits on her bench all day and observes the daily life of Kalighat.  I think one of the most difficult things for any patient is a lack of making their own decisions.  In nursing school a big area of focus has been giving the patients as much freedom to make decisions as possible to foster a sense of dignity.  This is very important, I feel.  Unfortunately, in a place like Kalighat, it can be difficult sometimes and the patient's desires to make decisions manifests itself in unhelpful ways.  This woman with Parkinson's tends to have daily fight sessions with the Sisters/Masi/volunteers by not taking either her medicine or her food.  It all kind of depends on the mood she is in.  But she absolutely stole my heart one day that she was apparently in a good mood.  I was walking by her as she was sitting on the bench and smiled at her and said "Hi auntie!" (everyone is called 'auntie' here) and continued to walk on by.  But as I passed her she grabbed my hand, pulled me back and said in her shaky voice "Balo!" which means "Good!".  I sat down with her and she held my hand for a good 5 minutes.  I guess she was done at this point because then she tossed my hand away and started to push me off the bench and shoo me away.  From that point on though, she had stolen my heart. 

Also, a little update on photos, we have naturally been taking tons of pictures here of India and our experience.  I'd like to post them but we are in the process of finding our USB cord for the camera.  It seems to have gotten lost in our room...maybe a cockroach stole it.  Either way, once we find that, pictures will go up!  There will not be any of Kalighat because cameras are not allowed in the homes until your last day, so that will take a while.  And I would like to thank everyone for the prayers! They are so appreciated and so helpful! Thank you for contributing to the work here in India! God bless!