Again I'd like to point out that I did not take all of the pictures that I've been posting, they have been taken by some of the other volunteers. I am not allowed to post pics that contain the girls for their safety and other concerns. If I visit you, or you visit me and and there is a computer near by I'd be happy to show you ALL the pictures that were taken :D They are beautiful happy girls.... amazing human beings!
Today is the last day for our group at Nijoloy. I'll be leaving before the rest of the group for orientation at Mother Theresa's so I can volunteer tomorrow. Again this comment! It feels as if we have been here so much longer than we have. The weird sleep habits, the heat, upset tummies, and the assault on our senses and emotions and it's starting to show... and we still have a week left!
I left soon after lunch and I think it's a blessing in disguise. The girls are wonderful and being in a sea of goodbye's is not my strong suit. I'm more of a "see you later" type of gal. If I'm in the midst of sad emotions and crying, I can only keep my bearing so much. I may be a "coward" but slipping off today was bittersweet. I was able to reflect quietly in the car, wipe away tears that no one got to see, and take in some more of India on my own.
I've noticed, during our drives, a lot of men just go pee off the side of the road. It's men in general to include business men. This didn't surprise me, I've seen this in other states and in Hawaii I even witnessed a woman going pee behind a palm tree. Note to women: palm trees do not provide accurate cover and no this woman was not drunk. But what caused me to take a double take while in the taxi on the way to Mother's house is in the midst of city and traffic there were urinals set up, made out of concrete and not in a building. Picture urinals out in the open and a couple of guys were using them. I'm not sure of what the difference is between using a open air urinal and a tree but obviously there is some sort of difference!
I made it to Mother's house and I was told to walk up the street to another place for orientation. I started to go and out front of Mother's House there was a lady and a girl. The girl started to talk to me about my henna and asked how much I paid. I told her it was free and she looked a little perturbed about that. I later found out why. I walked a block then turned around and went back to the Mother's house, I figured I'd be smart and write down the feakn' address this time. The lady and the girl did not bother me. When I got to Mother's there were a couple of guys getting directions to the same place so I tagged along with them. One of them was John from OK getting his masters in Social Work and he was there to volunteer that weekend also. He was doing a study abroad and just had this time free.
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| this is the alley way to go to the Mother House |
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| where we had our orientation |
We get to where the orientation was and I started talking to two sisters from Australia. They do vacations together and here they are. They always wanted to do this, volunteer at Mother's Theresa's, and ta da. They were both older ladies, kids all grown, and so the time was right for this journey. Eventually the other group showed up. There were A LOT of volunteers. Eventually we were split up into language groups and we had to read some information sheets about the areas and about the beggars. Some of the women even rent kids/babies because they can make more money that way. They also try to entice visitors to get henna done :P We also learned about each of the shelters that we could volunteer at.
Sitting there in that big room I was awashed in amazement, and humbled. There was people from all over the world in that one room, for the sole purpose to volunteer, to help others in any capacity that they can! I had to swallow my emotions numerous times just sitting in that room, looking around at all the love. Very awe inspiring.
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| basking in amazement of all the people and all the love there |
We had to wait till we were called up to tell the sister's where we wanted to volunteer at. I felt the need to go to the Dying and the Destitute, everyone else went to a children's shelter. The two Australian ladies were also going to Kalighat (the Dying and Destitute shelter) so I was happy to know some folks. We waited and waited and soon it was was my turn. I go up to the sister and tell her I'd like to go to Kalighat, she asked if I could go in the afternoon and I said no due to the other group is doing the morning shift also (she looked disappointed and I do have a pang of regret for not doing the afternoon but it is what it is). I found out the Australian ladies were doing the afternoon so I was on my own for Saturday morning! Once we were signed up the sister gives us a card/pass and a pendant which she blessed.
We were all done and we went over to visit Mother Theresa's tomb. She was an amazing woman. You could see her room that she lived in was very simple and peaceful. I will admit that I was more humbled being in the presence of so many people from around the world who have traveled just to volunteer and be in this presence. That says so much to me!
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| Mother Theresa's tomb |
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