Slumdog Millionaire

You've probably heard about the movie Slumdog Millionaire by now but in case you've been in a cave somewhere I'll give you a brief rundown...
Slumdog Millionaire is a movie based in Mumbai, India and it follows the life of a boy who grows up in the slums...he is a slumdog. I won't give away the rest of the story but it is amazing. This movie has won multiple awards including movie of the year.

My husband and I finally got an opportunity to see it on Valentine's Day and I am so glad we did. This movie is very well done and very realistic. The only thing missing for me was the smells of India. Everything else was included in the movie.

It was difficult for me to watch because it immediately brought me back to Calcutta and made my heart ache for the people I left behind there and for the little kids that I encountered. One scene in the movie is of kids getting their eyes burned with a hot liquid. This particular scene was difficult for me to watch as I encountered kids who had damaged eyes. This happens so that the children can become "better beggars". Often times parents will break the bones of their babies so that they will grow deformed and they too can be better beggars. It is a tough movie to watch but one that I think everyone should see so that we can gain awareness of what goes on in other countries.

One little girl who we encountered in the market was trying to sell us these bead looking things that grow into gel balls when put in water (they were really strange). She followed us all around the market begging us to purchase her product, which of course none of us had a use or a desire for. We began to pay extra attention to our surroundings and noticed that as she was following us a man was following her. We asked her who he was but she said he was no one and then he started staying further back. Basically he was her pimp...not in a sexual way necessarily but in the fact that he gets the money that she earns from selling her bead-to-gel-ball product. This became a real struggle for us as we had to decide whether or not to purchase one of these items. On the one hand, if you purchase the item the money goes to the pimp and supports him and supports the problem but on the other hand, there is a good chance that if she does not bring in enough money (whatever that is)she will probably be beaten. What's the answer? I'm not sure but we did purchase one packet and had to haggle with her because she wanted to charge us 4 times what she should have. What do you think? What would you have done?



Another thing we encountered over and over was street kids holding crying babies while begging for food and money. Now, sometimes they really are siblings but sometimes they are "borrowed" for purposes of begging. Older children will take crying babies with them so that they get more sympathy and hopefully more money.

It's easy to get frustrated and annoyed that these kids are shoving a crying baby in your face and it can be frustrating when you think about how they are playing with your emotions for money but when I really sat down and thought about it I could not even imagine what I might be willing to do if I was in their situation. I have no idea how I would react and could not get mad when our hotel staff would ask for a bigger tip or a teenage boy would see us coming and go pick up a crying child to show us.


Go see Slumdog Millionaire! It is totally worth the $10.75 or whatever it costs to see a movie now! Go see it so you too can fall in love and then you can go back to Calcutta with me in a few years. I go to a new place and this happens...I always fall in love and can't wait to go back!

Parasites

Often times when staying in another country, especially a developing or third world country, one will become very sick from the water or the food. And, one may even acquire a parasite...it's not that bad, think of it as a gift from your host country. Well, one night, actually our first Saturday in Calcutta I became quite sick...I traced my meals back and realized that I began feeling sick after eating a chicken dish at our hotel. Now, almost everyone had chicken while we were there and it was not my first go at the chicken dish but that did not matter. For some reason that specific piece of chicken did not mesh well with the inner workings of my body. Now, I tell you all this to get to this picture of something we passed every morning on our way to work at Prem Dan.



I show you this not so that you can think about how disgusting it is or how unclean other countries are but so that 1.) you can realize how it is possible for us to get parasites in other countries and 2.) to give you a glimpse of the way of life on the streets of Calcutta. There is nothing wrong with it in Calcutta, they don't get sick from it, just us wimpy-stomached foreigners do. In fact, if we were to bring them to the US and showed them our meat factories (or whatever they are called) they would see an enormous waste of money and time. I bring this up because so often we look at the way others do something and immediately want to fix it and show them the correct way to do it. However, it is only the correct way in our eyes. This method has worked for them for many decades and for us to think that we have all the answers is ignorant and arrogant and is the reason why so many countries around the world despise the US. And, let me just add that when people from other countries travel here to the US they often get sick from our food and water too...it is simply what your body has grown up on and what it is use to...so come on now...let's get off our high horses...we don't have all the answers :-)

Barbara

Barbara was one of the patients at Prem Dan that spoke English really well. She was at Prem Dan because she had a stroke and was not able to move her left leg. Other than that she was pretty healthy. She had even been in a regular hospital but they were charging her too much so she had to leave. And, while she has a family and an apartment her family was unable to take care of her since she needs help getting to the restroom and such. Barbara even knew the pastor we worked with, Pastor Gus, and attends his church. Since the homes for the dying do not offer any rehabilitation or physical therapy our team decided to do it on our own. One day we got Barbara out of bed and we taught her how to use a walker to get around. We would stretch her leg for her and teach her how to do it herself so that she didn't get worse from not using her muscles.

Barbara is an amazing lady and taught our team a lesson in humility one day when she asked if we would pray with her. We prayed for her and when we were finished she began to pray for us. It was a beautiful moment. It was difficult to leave Barbara as we were able to grow closer to her because we did not have a language barrier.

I wanted to share this story with you today because this morning I got great news. Exactly one month ago today we left Calcutta and this morning we got word from one of the volunteers that is still working in Prem Dan that this morning Barbara went home to be with her family. It is wonderful news for us as she was very unhappy and lonely staying at Prem Dan.

This morning was bitter sweet as I heard this news. I am so happy for Barbara but so sad for the other ladies that won't get to go home to their families or don't have families to go home to. It reminds me that while we left Calcutta and came home to the prestige of the United States the men and women we encountered are still there, still struggling for life and still living in the same conditions we saw them in. It reminds me that they were not there just for us to serve but they were there because that is the life they live. They don't get to spend two weeks in it and go on to something better and that is difficult for me to think about.

Street Sights

While grown men are known to bathe on the streets they start raising them up young in Calcutta...here is a little boy being washed by his mother. This sidewalk is right in front of one of the main train stations in Calcutta and is well traveled. It is also alongside what seemed like a freeway (at least a bigger street than anywhere else).


Not only are the street corners a perfect place to take a bath but also to get a shave. Men visit the barber for a facial shave right on the street corner.

Bathing

So, I've shared stories about working with Missionaries of Charity but haven't really shared much about the street life in Calcutta. So, here we go!

One of the things that caught our eye very quickly because it is so different than life in the US is that men bathe on the street. Every so often there will be a facet on the sidewalk and groups of men will be surrounding the water source in their underwear or a towel, scrubbin' up! It was always a little awkward to walk by them because sometimes there were large groups of men in one area but we became quite accustomed to the sight.



While some men would bathe a little bit off the street some would bathe right on the street while cars are passing by.



Look closely and you can see a guy covered in suds!

So the next time you take a shower be thankful that you have a water source inside your house and don't have to wash on the main street going through town...

Kalighat

Kalighat is the first home for the dying that Mother Teresa started. This home is for patients who are in critical condition and is not for long term care. Basically, the patients here are probably going to die within a few days. While I did not work in Kalighat we did walk through it and it was set up much like Prem Dan but the feeling was a lot different. All the ladies were in their beds and the home smelled worse than Prem Dan. The women are so weak that they cannot get up and walk to the toilet so they simply scoot off their bed and try to go in a bed pan on the ground but most of the time they miss the pan so it goes onto the concrete floor and goes to the center of the room where there is a drain. I do not think I would have been able to work in Kalighat but am so glad that there are men and women who can.

The first picture is of the top of the Kalighat home. What is interesting about this picture is that Kalighat shares a wall with a Hindu Temple. It just struck me as interesting that on one side there is an image of Jesus Christ and on the other side are images of many, many gods.

The second picture is a difficult picture for me to look at and is a sight that is all too common in Calcutta. This lady was outside of Kalighat waiting for a bed to open up so that she could be taken care of. She was covered in flies but one of the volunteers at Kalighat had given her a bottle of water to try to sustain her until a bed did become available.

**If you read Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne (which I highly recommend) this is the home where he spent his time volunteering.

Little Old Lady

Okay so one of the patients at Prem Dan was this little old lady...I mean really little and really old...
We are not quite sure how old she is. We asked a few of the nuns and got numerous answers so our best guess is that she is between 92 and 130. I would venture to guess that she is more like 103 but probably not 130. She was completely blind and would sit with her feet up on her chair all scrunched up (like most of the Indians sit) and she would keep her hands out so she could feel when people would walk by her. Every day she had the same routine: She would sit in her chair, eat lunch (although if she was not served meat then she would not eat it), wet herself, then want to go to bed. The best part about this little lady is her voice. She has this high pitched scratchy voice that I really can't describe and cannot even imitate but everyone would just stop and listen to her because it was so funny. After she finished her lunch she was ready for bed so all you would have to do is get close enough so she could feel you and then she would cling on (sort of like a little monkey) and you could just start walking with her clinging to your waste and take her to bed. She also did not enjoy having clothing on. One day she wet herself (well, every day she wet herself) but this day the volunteers went to change her dress and they would put a clean dress on her and she would take it off and throw it on the floor. After about five times of this little game they were finally able to get her to keep her dress on. Oh, she is so cute. I just wanted to share her with you because she brought me much joy and entertainment.