Go Beyond

   Prem Dan Home for the Destitute | Kolkata, India | 23 January 2010

   Mother Teresa’s homes are a study in simplicity and efficiency. Every day, volunteers from around the globe travel to Kolkata to serve at Mother Teresa’s homes. You do not sign-up ahead of time to serve, there is no online registration, and there are no computers to manage volunteer databases. You simply show up for the orientation that is offered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. The Missionaries of Charity track volunteers in a ledger. They know on any given day how many volunteers are either serving or needed at each of the homes. Every morning, volunteers meet at Mother’s House, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, for a simple breakfast of bread, bananas, and tea. After praying and singing, volunteers travel to their respective assignments via public transportation.

   The work at the respective homes is also simple. At Prem Dan we start the day by doing laundry – tons of laundry. Then we use the vats of laundry water to clean every single sidewalk and courtyard. Cleaning and sweeping sidewalks is followed by shaving faces eroded by the currents of life on the streets, and massaging bent limbs, hands, and feet. Then it’s time for the mid-morning milk break for the residents of Prem Dan. The clinic staff is always busy cleaning and dressing wounds. The morning shift ends by serving lunch and doing dishes. Somehow all of the volunteers, many of whom do not speak the same language, manage to work harmoniously to meet the needs of the men and women in residence.

   Death is also simple and dignified at Prem Dan. I have watched several men die on this and on my previous trips here. Mother Teresa said that she did not want for the homeless to die like animals on the streets but to die like angels in her homes. When a man is dying here, one or two of the nuns plus volunteers gather at the bedside to pray and to gently speak or sing to the dying. Workers clean the body of the deceased, cover it with a white sheet, and respectfully place flowers on top of the sheet. This morning, we used three white sheets at Prem Dan. Although we know nothing about the men who died, these precious individuals did not die alone. They died with a measure of dignity, in a clean bed, and surrounded by people who care.

   Mother Teresa’s legacy and influence lives on here in Kolkata and around the globe. Her life reminds us that people matter, regardless of caste or class. The clean, white sheets placed over the deceased testify to her love for the least of these. Like Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, may we always affirm the worth and dignity of others, both in life and in death.