BootsnAll Travel Network



The Calcutta Diary: A Volunteer’s Experience

I haven’t written in awhile. I haven’t had the time, energy, or inclination. Here’s a quick entry that will have to fill in the blanks over the last week until I have time to post from my journal on Thursday…

Today I am sick. Not physically sick, more emtionally sick, maybe even mentally sick. Of course, this sickness has physically affected me too, and I find myself somewhat unsteady and unable to handle much beyond the bare minimum.

It all started about a week ago.

I had been walking down the same street every single day from my hotel to the Blue Sky Cafe, where I generally take all my meals.

Everyday, I passed this tiny man on the sidewalk. He was always lying there, on his side, on the pavement. He seemed coherent but ill.

A week ago he disappeared. I did not see him for about a day.

I cannot tell you why, but his face would not leave my head. I could not get him out of my mind, I can’t say why.

Then, one night as I was walking home, he re-appeared, this time on the opposite side of the street. He was naked and seemed near death.

Interestingly (and somewhat unusually) he had attracted a group of passerby, who were all standing around him. What was even more interesting was that the crowd was all Indian. Everyone was talking about what should be done and if any action should be taken.

I found this different–the Indians trying to help the man–not because Indian people do not help others (they do! constantly in this city) but that so many people were coming together, trying to come up with a solution.

I was standing there, just watching, when a man named Vijay started speaking to me in English about what to do.

Somehow, the crowd dissapated and it’s just me, Vijay, his shop assistant, a Muslim man who just came out of the mosque, and a Jain man wearing a face mask standing by the naked man.

The naked man is having some sort of seizure. I feel for his pulse, it’s very weak. He is very hot, he’s burning up.

It’s past midnight now, and nothing has been decided. No one wants to decide anything. Deciding anything in this city is hard. Helping anyone is harder. Nothing ever turns out properly and the politics and red tape mean that most people find it easier to let people die on the street than to bribe everyone to actually get something done. The bribes are endless.The rules, the red tape it’s endless too…

We somehow get him into a cab. We being me, the naked street person (now wrapped in a blanket) and the Hindu shopkeeper and his assistant; the Jain man; and the Muslim man. You know, it is not even occuring to me that I am suddenly in a cab with a bunch of men that I do not know. We are all thinking not about how unusual it is that I am there, but instead, how we are going to help this poor man.

He seems to be dying in the back seat.

We take him to place after place. No one will take him.

We finally try the police station, but they say they will just put him back out on the street in an hour.

We file out to the taxi from the station and get back into the cab.

Vijay, the shopkeeper, turns to me and says, ” I have never helped anyone off the street before. This is the first time I have tried. We must think of what to do. What do you suggest?”

I said, ” I think we should pray. Let’s pray that the next hospital we take him to will take him.”

And we all sit there praying–the Hindus, the Muslim, the Jain man, me…it’s an amazing experience. Everyone takes a turn and says a prayer aloud. If only things like that happened more often.

We drive to the last hospital on the list. We get out and leave the sick man in the cab, going inside to admissions. The scene in the courtyard, in the hallways, in the admissions room, is the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

I cannot even describe it right now without throwing up. So I won’t.

Vijay pays everyone off, and somehow, we get the sick man a pallet on the floor in a hallway.

The pallet in dirty–filthy, actually, crawling with lice and cockroaches. Rats and cats run around, and the rats are bigger than the cats. A dead man in uncovered right next to us in the hall, not four feet from our sick man.

And that was last Monday.

I have been going to this hell everyday now, visiting this sick man and trying to get him the things he needs to improve. After much scene-making, and some bakeesh-paying, we have managed to get his an actual bed, some medicines, a saline drip, and so on.

He has slightly improved.

I have gotten to the point that I am unable to face this ” hospital” alone, and have asked friends and other Mother Theresa volunteers to accompany me there, as it overwhelms me. I have never seen that kind of suffering in my life.

I am unable to help any of them but this one single man. I can’t help anyone but him. If I help one of the others, I will have to help them all. And I can’t.

Everytime I go there, wearing a headscarf to protect my hair from lice, a face mask, and rubber gloves, I am surrounded by people all staring at me, at the Westerner who brought this man to the hospital. people touch their foreheads which means “thankyou”. My friend Vijay says they have never seen a Westerner do something like that, care like that.

What do I think about it? I have no idea. I am on automatic, frankly.

I went  there today with a friend who is a nurse and she helped alot, as I have been so emotionally worn out from it all that I am practically useless. Everytime I leave the place I throw up from the scene itself.

I have hardly slept all week.

Tomarrow, several MT volunteers and I are going to see if we can find a bed for him at Prem Dan, Mother Theresa’s home for the severely ill. If I can’t find a bed for him there, I have decided that I have to lessen my visits for my own well being.

I’ll write about it all more in detail from my journal entries on Thursday.

In the meantime, thank goodness I have the boys at Dany Dan. They are a real joy for me in this place.

gigi



Tags:

4 responses to “The Calcutta Diary: A Volunteer’s Experience”

  1. jim says:

    In the midst of the storm, the unthinkable swirling chaos, there is always the eye. The place of refuge, of solace, of help and healing.

    You describe both with equal clarity, with stunning emotion, painful reality, and calming reassurance.

    Thank you.

  2. Fox is a very famous mountain bike manufacturer. They are well known for making high quality bikes, which are durable and they are widely used in different types of bike racing games. Fox bikes are much liked by all these days, be it teens or adults who love biking, these bikes are super cool and they do have any issues even if they are paddled on worst of terrains. These bikes have a nice design and they look quite attractive as well. These bikes have a very firm shock absorber Fox Forks/ and hence they are super comfortable.

  3. I cant wait till I can run marathons and BQ someday!

  4. roknalbostan says:

    تنظيف المنازل هو عملية تهدف إلى إزالة الأتربة والأوساخ والرواسب من الأسطح والأثاث والمكونات الداخلية والخارجية للمنزل. يُعتبر تنظيف المنازل جزءًا أساسيًا من الصيانة العامة للمنزل ويساهم في الحفاظ على نظافته وجماله.تشمل عملية تنظيف المنازل مجموعة متنوعة من المهام مثل تنظيف الأرضيات والسجاد، وتلميع الأثاث، وتنظيف الحمامات والمطابخ، وتنظيف النوافذ والأبواب، وتنظيف الجدران والسقوف. يتم استخدام مواد التنظيف المناسبة والأدوات المناسبة لكل سطح أو مادة لضمان النظافة الفعالة والحماية من التلف.تنظيف المنازل يساهم في خلق بيئة صحية ونظيفة للعيش، ويقلل من تراكم البكتيريا والجراثيم والحشرات الضارة. كما يساعد في تحسين جودة الهواء داخل المنزل ويزيد من راحة سكانه.يمكن تنظيف المنازل بشكل منتظم من قبل أفراد الأسرة، أو يمكن الاستعانة بشركات التنظيف المحترفة لتوفير خدمات تنظيف شاملة وعميقة. بغض النظر عن الطريقة المختارة، فإن تنظيف المنازل يعتبر عملية ضرورية للحفاظ على نظافة وصحة المنزل وسكانه.

    نظافة منازل

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *