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Bekind to Calcutta 2009
Brian Flanagan • 10 December 2009
Bekind to Calcutta 2009
Welcome to our third edition of Bekind
Update. We decided to make this edition a bit more interactive to give you a better idea of the work we've been doing on your behalf. This edition focuses primarily on Bekind's latest visit to Calcutta, which took place at the end of October/beginning of November.
The quotes you come across while reading this newsletter are the thoughts of the Castleknock Community College(CCC) students, who travelled with Bekind
this year.
"Going to Calcutta was an experience like no other. It changed my whole outlook on my life and the people in it. We all feel so lucky to have had the most strange, good and bad, emotional and scary best two weeks of our lives. We met the most amazing people, heard the most amazing stories and went to the most amazing birthday party ever! The whole trip was memorable and unforgettable."
- CCC Student.
The many months of planning, preparation and a fundraising campaign which surpassed all expectations have now become a chapter in the history of Bekind
Ireland's second year of existence.
I started this newsletter sitting in the departure lounge of Kolkata International Airport somewhat in awe of the group of young Irish students from CCC who had worked as volunteers here in the City of Joy for over two weeks. Physically unscathed but their open and impressionable bright minds processing an overload of data which will take some time to absorb.
The itinerary was designed to allow them work with the needy, the poor, the street and slum children, the handicapped and the destitute in some of Mother Teresa's homes and orphanages. It allowed them time to visit and work with the projects and the NGO's (non government organisations) which Bekind
Ireland supports and trusts.
My wife, Martina, finally made it to India making the picture complete for the Flanagan family, as all five of us have now been volunteers in Kolkata at various stages since 2004.
Our group of 18 comprised 12 CCC students; 10 girls and 2 boys, 2 female teachers, my lifelong friend and fellow director of Bekind, Niall Dalton, and his 19 year old son James.
Reflecting on this journey, another "alternative passage to India" makes me feel proud that our small country has produced such fine young students, young adults who were exemplary in their work, their attitude, their care and compassion for the poorest of the poor, young and old alike.They were a pleasure to have as associates of Bekind
and fine ambassadors for their school and families.
Another type of ambassador in Kolkata is the taxi variety. The old yellow Austins which have not changed design since the early sixties symbolise the city in many ways- tired, old and battered but still working. My bond with this city grows deeper with each return. It still exudes an atmosphere of mystery, intrigue and excitement in a most chaotic form. Niall and I first came to Kolkata in 2005 and understand fully what our group have experienced as first time volunteers to this city of joy.
Each evening after the day's work was complete we gathered around a candle and discussed our experiences, sharing the highs and lows of the day. The parents of each student were also asked to light a candle in Ireland around the same time, establishing a daily connection to remind them of their son or daughter ,many thousands of miles away, the light of hope burning simultaneously in India and at home.
"Blinded by western society, the wider Indian people try to make the best of a bad lot. I saw many things that touched my heart, my favourite place being Nabo Jibon. I will return."
-
CCC Student
"I suppose the biggest wow moment for me was when we were out with the Hope Foundation and they brought us to the slums and right in front of me was that image that I've seen in movies but yet I almost didn't believe that people could actually live in such conditions. They have homes that are one room, if they are lucky but yet they were so grateful. This really hit me because of everything we have here that we take for granted things like having our own bedroom,that is the size of a whole family's house in the slums. It really made me appreciate absolutely everything that I have." - CCC Student
Hope, as a foundation, celebrated its 10th anniversary while we were in Kolkata and we were fortunate to attend a wonderful event in the theatre in Science City on the day of our departure. Several hundred children sang, danced and performed full of joy and happiness. These children have been given a chance of a real childhood because of the wonderful work of the Irish Hope Foundation and its partners in India.
On stage, we watched some of our sponsored children performing. We had seen some of them rehearsing earlier in the week, some of the special needs children being assisted by their carers, little ones unable to walk were on stage in their buggies with smiles to light up anyone's darkest day. With tears in our eyes we watched a little 5 year old special needs girl, Ratna, dance her final dance in Kolkata. Ratna has been adopted and is due to travel to her new family in the USA shortly.
"In a Hope hospital, a beautiful girl lies there unmoving and ignores anyone who comes by. A nurse tells you that she is only about 8 years old and that she is still there because she is always so sad that she has to leave the hospital where she gets love, enough food and a bed. They're leaving her there as long as possible so she doesn’t have to go back to her family. You try your best to get any reaction out of her, playing with her, talking to her, doing anything you can. Then she smiles and you have to leave." - CCC Student
We saw Fatima, an autistic deaf child, do her best with her carers help to partake in the dance and drama. Her case most touching, as I had met her on my visit earlier in May and learned of the horror of her life as her mother used to tether her to railings on the street while begging. The bumps still clearly visible on the back of her head, proof of her ordeal as she had bashed her head in frustration and bewilderment in the cruellest of acts for this innocent little one. Now a beaming smile from Fatima tested my emotions and composure as I watched and thought of the goodness of Hope Foundation for reaching out to save another little life from pain, suffering and abuse.
After orientation and settling in on day one, we took a visit to Howrah station. A walk down its platforms gave the group a sense of where most of the poverty starts.
That evening we were to meet a man who has carefully distributed our funds to the most in need. He had asked for our help last year in the education of a young man from a very poor background who has had to deal with many crosses in life.
Muctar Ali is in first Year College studying Hotel management, first in his family to try and break free from the cycle of poverty endured by his parents and grandparents. His efforts hampered by the deformity of his right hand. A fall from his cot as a 9 month old baby and shoddy work by a medic left him with a withered hand. Trouble seemed to follow Muctar as he wandered off in the city at the age of seven and got lost.... for over six months! The boy was taken in by a cafe owner who in exchange for some food and a place to sleep became a slave, washing dishes, pots and pans. It was painful for him to relate details but he admitted his master did not treat him well. Luck changed and a friend of his father spotted him one day and he was reunited with his family and started school again.
"The moment that stood out for me was my first day working in Nabo Jabon. Here I helped people in a way I never thought I would be able to do prior to my trip. On the first working day here I remember being told that one the boys needed to be washed and changed. I never thought I would be able to do such a task but in the moment you don't have time to think, I felt that I just had to get on with it. After this I realised what I could do and what I needed to do here. Which for me was not to think about what I was doing but just help these unfortunate people in whatever way I could. I was surprised about how good it made me feel to help these people." - CCC Student
Muctar's home is an 8x6 lock up shop in a Muslim area close to the Mother House, where his dad runs a small ironing service. He sleeps, eats and studies in this place, which he shares with his younger brother, his father and a labourer. I was to visit this place with some of the lads- seeing is believing.
He washes himself each day at a tap in the street and yet is undeterred by his daily hardships. He is a most gentle and well-mannered young man with a warm smile and fluent English. Muctar was educated by Irish Jesuits in St. Mary's in Dumdum.
"On one of our last volunteer days to Nabo Jabon, we took a diversion on the way back after work. We headed down a suspicious looking alley way and what we stumbled upon was truly a diamond in the rough, Don Bosco’s Orphanage. We were greeted by a French volunteer who had volunteered six months to teach carpentry to the orphans. Then we were given a tour of the orphanage, they showed us all the other trades they teach such as printing, metal working and candle making. We were then told of the orphan's background, it turns out they came from Howrah Train Station and other similar train stations too. They take the children who are living in the train station and provide them with food, clothing and shelter but not only were they provided with these necessities, they were thought a skill which is most important as it means when they grow up into adults and they leave the orphanage they can become self-sufficient, this means they will be able to support themselves and their families." - CCC Student
The group met the amazing Sr. Cyril from Loreto Sealdah who shared the details of her latest projects with us, including the schools she has started in the "Brickfields".Here a family will work all day to produce 1000 bricks. They are paid 65 rupees (just under €1) The same bricks are sold by the owner for 5000 Rupees (approximately €70) The younger children are now getting an education and the older ones are thought during their mid-day break. Sr Cyril informs us that about 20 such make shift schools are now in operation, where before it was only child labour, day in day out.
Several of our students were to work as teachers with the street children in the Rainbow Project in Loreto Sealdah during the two weeks there.
"Walking into the leper colony I was scared of what I might see. Most leprosy is not contagious. The lepers know this view the majority of the world has about leprosy being contagious. I cannot describe the happiness that we gave them just by a simple smile and a handshake. Such fulfilment out of such a small gesture." - CCC Student
6 am mass in the Mother House is always special but on our group's first time there we were to witness a baby from one of Mother Teresa's orphanages being adopted that very morning by a young Indian couple. After the mass the infant was laid on Mother's tomb. He never stirred or cried and prayers were said for him and his new mam and dad, a touching moment when the once unwanted became the much loved.
We spent a day with Hope Foundation where our group met their co-sponsored children in the Hope creche, Dipan, Kunal and Keya. Great fun was had doing the hokey pokey and playing with the kids.
On to the other Hope projects: the schools in the slums, the Hope Hospital, where we were to meet patients with many stories to tell. One lucky child had miraculously escaped death from electrocution as he went to retrieve his kite from overhead wires. 85% burns to his body deterred him not as he chatted to us and showed his collection of recently coloured pictures.
During Martina's time working in Prem Dam she had met a woman around 50 years of age who had been transferred to the Hope hospital. Her name is Laxmi and she had been badly injured in a hit and run road accident. For three weeks Laxmi lay in pain unable to gain admittance to proper medical care until she came to Hope Hospital where x-rays showed a double fractured leg and several broken ribs. A phone call to Jenny Browne, (Overseas Director of Hope India), on 20th Nov says she now is making a good recovery after extensive surgery and recuperates slowly. We were in a position to cover the costs of Laxmi's operation and treatment through your donations.
"Walking into Shanti Dan, a Mother Teresa home for disabled women was overwhelming and slightly unnerving. I wasn’t sure if I could do it. But seeing the happiness we could bring to these women by just holding their hands, talking with them, painting their nails, brushing their hair, dancing and playing with them was something I will never forget. It was so simple but meant so much more." - CCC Student
Friday the 30th Oct was a day where unique bonds were formed. We spent time with another of our sponsored projects, Art of Living Group, who run De-addiction centres for men and women. They also run a home called Rupayan for boys aged between 5 and 14. There are currently 14 children under their care. As mentioned in the last newsletter, the boys from Rupayan come from broken homes, the platforms of Sealdah and Howrah train stations, where begging, picking pockets, abusing solvents and where widespread abuse from other addicts is common. These boys had in many cases been beaten and tortured by a parent or relative not satisfied with their begging results.
"I really enjoyed our visit Sanchar outreach group. It was great to see that they are reaching out to children who need their care in the rural parts of Calcutta. I got to visit a nine year old boy who was deaf. It was amazing how much he had come on since they first began working with him. All the family and even some of the small community were there to help the boy with his work." - CCC Student
These adults' minds no doubt tortured through abuse of alcohol, drugs coupled with hopeless deprivation... no excuse for inflicting abuse on the children but perhaps part of the reason. I first came in contact with these children several months after Rupayan was set up. The children have received a lot of counselling and therapy and now all of them are attending school and the difference is wonderful to witness.
"Shishu Bhavan is an orphanage for newborns and upwards run by the Missionaries of Charity and is where my heart was stolen by a little girl named Namthu. As I lifted up this special little girl, I realised she was blind and disabled and I became overwhelmed with emotion. As she was crying, I felt so helpless, frozen with fear I began to sing to her and she soon calmed down. On my working days I cared for her, playing with her and singing became part of our daily routine. Watching this innocent little two year old smile and listening to her laughter, she was clueless that she had captured my heart forever." - CCC Student
All Aboard!
I mentioned unique bonds and our students were to form special relationships with these children and spend a weekend with them on a short holiday in the Sunderban region on the Bay of Bengal. A first for our student group and a first holiday ever for the Rupayan boys.
Retreating to this place of natural beauty from the noise and pollution of Calcutta was a welcome change for all of us and a chance to treat these young lads to some fun and freedom one hundred miles from their city but a million miles from their horrible past lives. They never gave us one minute's bother and despite the language barrier we laughed and sang and danced our weekend away on our "basic" boat cruising the islands of the world's largest delta and enjoying the privilege of making others happy.
The children had been looking forward to this weekend for months and no doubt are still talking about their new "Aunties" and "Uncles" all the way from Ireland. A sponsorship programme for these children has enabled some of the students and their families an opportunity to sponsor them to the age of 18.
"Kolkata was nothing I expected it to be in so many ways. The culture, people, environment are so unlike Ireland's, yet when you step back and look at the bigger picture you see we're all really the same. The mother taking care of her children as best she can; the father working 'the night shift' to keep his family afloat, the brother keeping a watchful eye on his younger sister, the sister eagerly aspiring to be just like her mother and those pesky neighbourhood dogs that just won't go away. We're all just one big family hugging close to Earth for life and being."
- CCC Student
As we witness homes and businesses destroyed by floods and torrential rain in Ireland and the distress this has caused to so many we can empathize with others who have also been affected by severe weather.
"There was this mam, dad and a little baby that I used to walk by now and again who lived on the street. No house, no furniture, no food, nothing . Yet every time I saw them they were smiling and having fun. They didn't let their circumstances ruin their lives. They lived their lives to the fullest when they had nothing at all. I just think that this family was so inspiring. If they could be happy having nothing, we should all be even happier with all the things we have in our lives." - CCC Student
The Sunderban Region was so calm and tranquil over the two days we spent there with the Rupayan children and little apparent evidence of the cyclone that ravaged and destroyed homes, farms and livelihoods in May this year. Many lives were also lost. The Hope Foundation was able to help victims and Bekind also supported this fund.
Funds in excess of €30,000 were distributed during this visit and additional children are being sponsored. We will continue to help and support those making a difference to the poorest of the poor. This is only possible because of you. Thank you for thinking of others.
How apt Mother Teresa's quote "We cannot do great things in this world, we can only do small things with great love"
Brian Flanagan
Bekind Ireland
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The saying “ absence makes the heart grow fonder ” has been uppermost in my mind over the past months. My regular Zoom or WhatsApp calls with the children in Kolkata are a help but almost two years have passed since being with them in person. I am amused by the deeper voices of some of the children as they enter their teenage years. The voices and the bodies change and a request for six new bunk beds was a reminder of how much the boys are growing. A very generous donation from a local person came just at the right time to cover the costs.
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(IRL) CLG trading as "Bekind Ireland" is an Irish company limited by guarantee (Company Number: 448441) and Irish registered charity (Registered Charity Number: 20067960), with its offices at 33 Woodpark, Castleknock, Dublin D15KP6R, Ireland.