For our group project we were asked to journal each day about our experiences. I figured I would just post my journal entries for the blog. I apologize for how long this is (feel free to just skim it)! Overall I had a really good experience at Mother Teresa, and I am glad that we were able to engage in work very different from what I do at Little Stars for our group project.
March 5
Today was our first day working at the Mother Teresa center for the elderly and mentally ill. Since the celebration of Holi is essentially taking over the entire week, it was decided to move our group volunteer project to the beginning of this week. The center was clean and happy and it was really interesting to see something of Christian influence in India. We spent the morning working with the women in a sort of game/ arts and crafts room. I was able to put my French to use in order to talk to the super sweet French volunteers who have been there for about two months. I spent the first hour helping this really nice elderly woman bead necklaces with large wooden beads in order to work on her hand eye coordination.
At first I was a bit hesitant on what I should do with the women and how I should act toward them. Though I spent a semester working in a Special Needs classroom in middle school, there is something very different about working with people who are older than you. It is hard to find the balance between showing them the respect they deserve and interacting with them on a level that feels comfortable to them. Though they spoke very little, I felt bad that the language barrier was keeping me from understanding what they were saying to me and from telling them things. I just kept throwing around two of my favorite Hindi words “sundar”, which means beautiful, and “accha” which means good. After a while the women went for a tea break, and when they returned Annie and I played carrom with one of the men who are staying there. The game is essentially like a mini version of pool, but you flick a striker tile to hit the other ones into the four holes at the corner of the board. The man we were playing with was so adorable and would always pass the striker to us when it was our turns. He then would line it up and point to the tile that would be easiest to put in. He was mostly super serious about the game but every once in a while when Annie or I would fail miserably he would crack a smile, and then show us up by perfectly placing his in. We lost all three games but I really feel like he enjoyed the time we spent together.
Our leader Julie told us that Mother Teresa’s philosophy was to do small things with great love, and I am really trying to make that my goal for this week. In the past it’s been really important for me to really see that I am making a difference with my volunteer work. I have been working on this trip to find a balance between what is being asked of me, and what I think will make the most difference as I volunteer. As someone who is very goal focused, it is often hard for me to feel like I am doing anything at all if I don’t see tangible results of my work. I’ve found though that often this mentality just does not work in India, where everything takes longer and is more complicated than it should be. The lesson I’ve learned is that it is much more about your presence here, than what you get done. As I’ve working with populations who often do not get much attention in this community, I realized how much it means to people for us to just take time to interact and listen to them. I feel really good just knowing that I made that man smile and have a good morning and I am looking forward to going back tomorrow.
March 6
Today I had a really wonderful experience at Mother Teresa. We got there a little earlier (7:30am!) in order to help out with the laundry and floor scrubbing. As we were getting ready to help out with the laundry one of the nuns pulled Nikki and I aside to come upstairs and help out with the food preparation. I spent the first hour there peeling potatoes with the man who I played carram with yesterday. It was great to work along side both volunteers and patients of Mother Teresa. I loved that they allow the patients to help out with the different tasks they are able to do because I think it is really rewarding for them to feel as though they are contributing to the community at Mother Teresa. Though no one was talking, there was just a feeling of all around appreciation as everyone worked together to get the food ready for lunch.
After we finished with the vegetables we were sent into the kitchen to help out with the chapatti making. For those who are not aware chapattis are the Indian equivalent of tortillas, and a chapatti-variation is served with essentially every meal. I am glad that we had some background from our cooking class a few weeks prior, because the art of chapatti making is much more complicated than it seems. It is interesting how much more labor intensive Indian cooking is in comparison to everyday American cooking. Between the constant peeling and cutting of vegetables and the kneeding and rolling out of the chapatti dough, you know there is a lot of love and care that goes into each Indian meal.
Once we finished rolling out chapattis we headed down to the arts and crafts room to play with some of the patients. I was sitting with two quiet women who were beading necklaces. They did not seem to want to interact much but they would often look up to make sure I was still sitting there to show me their necklaces. It was nice to have a balance of tangible work and time to just spend with the patients at Mother Teresa.
Today I also realized how much I appreciate the overall atmosphere and environment at the home. When you walk in you can just feel the care and happiness that makes the home run. The nuns and volunteers have been very welcoming to us and I often just enjoy watching them interact with the patients. It is clear that the patients are very loved and taken care of. It is incredible how the people who work there know the patients on such a personal level. They really take the time to know things like who needs to work on their hand eye coordination and who you can’t rush to lunch because they will be upset if they don’t finish their picture. During my time working at Little Stars I often found myself wishing that the staff knew more about the kids abilities than what their test scores were. The environment at Mother Teresa feels much more Western than Little Stars, and I wonder if this idea of individual attention is just representative of the different cultures. Anyways, I am excited for our last day at Mother Teresa and appreciative that I am getting exposure to a very new type of volunteer work
No comments:
Post a Comment