sunday at prem dan

Our time in India is winding down. We have just booked flights for Tuesday: we're heading to Nepal for a week. After 5 weeks here, we're okay with our decision to spend one elsewhere.

Today we hung out with the little people. We were then going to go and visit the boys home that New Light runs so we sat in the office reading. The plan was to leave at 4:30 or so. At 3:30 the office administrator told us that there was no one available to take us. We were secretly excited but I was also disappointed as I really want to visit this home but we are running short on time. We took this extra gift of time and decided not to go Kalighat. We picked up our pictures from 8th Day and laid low.

On Sunday I took the opportunity to visit Prem Dan, the home I volunteered at 4 years ago. I went to the volunteer morning thing at the Mother House for the first time since our first week. I recognized absolutely no one. I suppose that speaks to the overall turnover at this place.

I leeched on to the Prem Dan walking group. I remember loving this half hour walk to the home four years ago and this morning did not disappoint as we walked through the back lanes and alleys of this small section of Kolkata. Again the streets were filled with vendors, butchers, motorcycles and rickshaws. We walked through slums and across railroad tracks. The surroundings were dire the closer we got to Prem Dan. I suppose they're situated in a correct location or, alternatively, the slums exist because of Prem Dan? It's too intricate to confidently draw conclusions.

Prem Dan is a happier, bigger, brighter place. It also houses adults but most of them are more mobile and 'competent' then the Kalighat folks. They have an expansive property including a large outside area with a garden and two swings. I missed the outside at Kalighat as Kalighat is small, dark and all inside. 

Routine was similar to what I remember and to Kalighat. I did not put myself in the wound dressing area as I was just visiting that day. I sent myself to laundry. I carried two buckets up three flights of stairs and began to hang them. What I love about Prem Dan is that the residents who are able, help out. There were 10 residents on the roof  hanging laundry when I got there. When I arrived on the roof I was greeted with, "big auntie!" by one or the residents as I was four years ago. The clothes lines are about shoulder height for me so hanging laundry is a relatively easy task. 

After laundry I hung around with patients. Many of them I remember after four days there four years ago. One of the ladies who had her arms and face destroyed when her husband threw acid on her was still there. At lunch time I fed her as I had before. 

As with at Kalighat, it isn't hard to make conversation even without knowing many Bengali words. Facial expressions, actions, concerned looks and head nods go a long way. I enjoyed interacting with these ladies.

I found a niche quickly at this place and seemed to be the volunteer the massi's called over to do various tasks. At one point I was recruited inside to a specific job: de-louse a lady. She was infested: hundreds of lice found a home on her head, clothes and bed. They were just falling off of her. She had been brought into the home the night before so I suppose it makes sense. This wasn't my most favourite job, but I managed.

The ladies here are cute, just like at Kalighat. They were entertaining and downright hilarious: pushing me too aggressively on the swing, mirroring the stupid faces I was making, copying my clapping patterns on the table or participating in a full Bengali conversation with me. I enjoyed my morning and am glad I visited towards the end of my stay as I could not be conflicted on where to volunteer.