Hajj - The purpose is to fulfil the duty Allah has commanded all to fulfil. The Hajj or pilgrimage is the fifth principle, or pillar of Islam, and is undertaken to commemorate Ibrahim and his family, who founded Makkah (Mecca). If Muslims have the halal money, and are competent to make the journey, they must make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The money cannot be haraam. Meaning it can't be gained through immoral means, such as lottery, stripping, bar-tending, etc.

One core reason for our visit to India was to finalise a goal in procuring a property for the Bekind Boys’ Home. From my earliest experiences of Calcutta in 2005 as a volunteer the sheer scale of the poverty and homelessness planted a seed in me to do something practical for the many poor children living on the streets. I wanted to open a home.

Seven years later, that nurtured seed has been turned into a reality. A call from Maureen Forest, founder of the Hope Foundation, requesting us to view a property in East Calcutta was to lead to successful negotiations with the landlord on that Friday Nov 25th 2011. My task on returning to Ireland would be to get the “enlarged” budget passed for this project.

The first thing to shock the senses was the smell, not the usual odours found with dawn incontinence but a smell of decay. We came across a novice brother named Joseph who was attending to a teen of about fifteen years of age.

Brother asked us for help in washing the boy and lifting him back to bed. The sight that befell us will never be erased, for the poor lad, whose name was Andarra, was in such a condition it was hard not to wretch, as a foul odour emanated from this poor boy.

Destitute and homeless, it appeared that Andarra had roamed the streets of Calcutta for several years. Unwanted and shunned, this boy with his mental and physical disabilities, lived from day to day, scavenging what he could to survive. He became weaker over time and suffered from infections as he lay alone on the streets.

I wanted to hold him in my arms but there was no place to hold him, such was the extent of his wounds, where the flesh had literally rotted away. He was the living-dead. Stroking his hair was as much as one could do as his stare cut deep into my heart.

With help from Hope Hospital, we sent a water mattress a day later to help ease his suffering, for we knew his time was near. Andarra passed away on Christmas week.

Br. James Joseph, a Rajastani Irish Christian brother who founded the ERFS for poor girls in that area some ten years ago, had been in regular contact with me as we tried to arrange treatment for the twenty-one year old girl Bindiya. To visit Bindiya we first made the journey by jeep, as far as possible, then a couple of hours on foot to get to the tiny remote village where she lived with her family. Her father produces local liquor and evidently is not averse to sampling his own brew…regularly!

After taking very ill over Christmas and having breathing difficulties, Bindiya had to be carried in relays by family and villager friends one night through the dark and rain to get her hospitalised in Darjeeling.

I urged James Joseph to transport her to Calcutta for treatment and he arranged flights for her and her sister who would be a donor if tests proved a positive match for kidney transplant.

Hope Foundation Kolkata pulled out all the stops and arranged dialysis treatment, secured a surgeon to perform the operation and cared for the two sisters for several weeks. I spoke regularly to the girls, calling them from Dublin in January and February offering encouragement and asking them to keep their spirits up.

When news came through by email from Samiran, the manager in Hope Hospital that tests had shown Bindiya had damage to her heart and was unable to have the operation, we were all so disappointed. She would return to her village and as I write I am coping with yesterday’s text dated March 27th 2012 from Bindiya’s sister sent to James Joseph, which read:

Ricky and I had been to Ranchi in December last to visit Missionaries of Charity brother, Peter. Peter has worked for years caring for the poor and oppressed in Korea, in South America and in his home country of India, encouraging slum children to go to school and supporting needy families as much as possible. Bekind has another gem in Peter, as no money goes to waste and he uses it to maximum effect. As mentioned in previous correspondence, it was during my first visit there in 2009 that I met Kabir, a child who had lost his right leg in a train accident. I vowed to return a year later and with the help of my eldest son, Shane, we took the boy to Calcutta, where Hope arranged for prosthesis to be fitted.

St. Patrick’s, founded in 1891 is one of the nineteen Christian Brothers Schools in India. St. Patrick’s School was built in 1877 as a scholasticate for Belgian Jesuits. It was abandoned by them because of the severe Asansol climate. It was taken over by Christian Brothers in 1890 and opened as St. Patrick’s Boarding of Anglo- Indian and European Boys.The Christian brothers have worked for over a century in St. Patrick’s School and many of their stalwarts are buried in the School Cemetery.

Ex-pupils are to be found around the world as well as all over India. Present pupils keep up the great traditions of the years gone by and continue to strive for excellence.

Young Kabir was delighted to spend the night there, having the luxury of his own room complete with en suite, a marked difference to the dorm he normally shares with scores of other boys in Kishor Nagar, where he attends a Jesuit-run school for 800 children, who are mostly orphaned.

Next morning, removing his false leg, Kabir and I took advantage of the schools outdoor swimming pool. With one hand on my shoulder Kabir hopped his way to the pool assuring me he could swim. With his limited English and my even more limited Hindi I was hoping nothing was lost in translation! No worries, as he swam like a fish and gave me a run for my money, as we dived our way into another day in incredible India.