Pilgrimage Through India

Trinity’s Pilgrimage through India #8 “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart are restless until they rest in you.” – St. Augustine

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Sitting in the departure lounge at Kolkata Airport on that last night in India I looked at each of the nine boys slumped in their seats. They weren’t saying anything, and they looked exhausted. The fact that we had reached the end of the Indian odyssey was slowly sinking in. After 400 days of eager anticipation and thorough preparation, the 30 days of constant travel and frenetic activity had finished. We had at least one hundred new experiences every day! But now it was over. Although they were looking forward to reuniting with loved ones at home, the farewells from their new friends in MITHRA, Mandal and Kolkata had all been wrenching and sad. Here in the airport lounge, these tired pilgrims, each in his own way, were wrestling with so many mixed emotions, and trying to make sense of all that had happened. Only one month before this, on the eve their departure for India, these boys had celebrated their Mass of Commissioning in the Trinity Chapel with their families and friends. As they received their mission crosses from Fr Michael, they were filled with excitement and apprehension. They were nervous about leaving the comforts of home, yet they were thoroughly imbued with the idealism of youth as they embarked on the risks of the unknown. They were filled with a genuine desire to serve the poor. As we sang the processional hymn: “Here I am Lord,… I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me,” the words had a special poignancy that night.

Now, Trinity’s eighth Indian pilgrimage has come and gone. The months since we returned home have sailed past and the daily demands in our lives have completely absorbed our time, energy and attention. Only when we have some quiet time do we ask ourselves those key questions: “What was India all about for me?” “Was it just another one of the many thousands of new experiences in my life, or was it something more?” “How has India impacted on my daily living, or is it now just a fond memory?” The answers to these questions are personal and only each individual pilgrim is able to look into his own heart and know whether the experience of a four week immersion into India has made a difference. -----ooo0ooo----There are so many stories that can be told about our time in India, but one that stands out in my memory occurred on our second last night in Calcutta. That night three of the boys returned to the dining room in the Brothers’ residence at about 11:30 p.m. They had been out with Jim McGinniss distributing blankets to the homeless living on the bleak railway stations in mid-winter. But rather than looking exhausted by this late night ministry they approached me with their eyes glistening and excitement in their voices. They spoke with great urgency and passion as they informed me that they had brought home a disabled destitute man who was in need of urgent medical attention. They asked me whether we could accommodate him in the orphanage overnight and whether we could take him to Mother Teresa’s Home at Prem Dan for dying destitutes the next morning to enquire if we could have him admitted. I well remember my shock, but also my pride. How could I not be persuaded by these young sixteen year olds, whose hearts were burning with compassion for the poorest of the poor! Of course he must sleep in our residence, and of course we would try to get him help in the morning. The following morning when I went to check on the man, already the boys were attending him and making sure he was warm and comfortable. They were not deterred by his inability to speak, nor his muscle spasms, nor his untreated wounds. They wrapped him in warm blankets and lifted him ever so carefully into a taxi. My vivid memory is of these boys holding him in their arms as though they held a special treasure. A certain calm and peace had come over the man, and from his eyes I knew that he knew he was safe and in good hands. When we arrived at Prem Dan, with Sister’s permission, our new friend was admitted where he was bathed, shaved and given the necessary medical treatment. For now he had a roof over his head and a warm bed and food. This is just one episode from Trinity’s recent Pilgrimage through India. There were so many more that make me proud of these nine young men and two fellow teachers. Each boy was challenged many times throughout the four week journey and each responded with generosity, compassion and courage. From that day back in August 2005 when they came into Campus Ministry with their application forms, and at every subsequent Friday lunchtime meeting for 15 months, and throughout the 30 days in India, each pilgrim has been totally committed to the dream of going to India and serving the poorest of the poor. They faithfully attended to all the preparations – medical, practical, and spiritual. They attended all the meetings including a Retreat together at North Beach and gradually they bonded together as a group as they shared their hopes and dreams as well as their deepest fears. They knew that India was going to be tough, and that the experience would test them, but they were determined to give it their best shot, knowing that they would learn much about their own strengths as well as their limitations. Indeed, throughout the pilgrimage it was humbling for me to watch each boy push himself to his limits, particularly when the going was really tough. Each boy was confronted with many personal challenges. For a month they endured 137

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Pilgrimage Through India

many deprivations. They were confronted with strange food, basic bathroom facilities, a lack of privacy, personal laundry responsibilities, homesickness, delhi-belly (‘the dreaded lurgey” as we called it!) colds, the strain of group living, lack of sleep, constant travel, not to mention the challenges of their service work with severely disabled children, and the very sick and dying destitute men. All the comforts of home which we take for granted were just not available! But despite all of these hardships they kept each other’s spirits high and they persevered. I am very proud of just how each boy came to terms with his own limitations and weaknesses, and pushed himself to be more generous and loving, especially towards those who are not particularly attractive: the beggars, the destitutes, the deformed and the mentally impaired. Each night these boys came together for night prayer when they reflected on all that had happened to them during the day; the people they had encountered and the feelings they had experienced. They remembered Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan who didn’t think twice about serving someone in need. These boys truly understood that when they gave a cup of water to a disabled child at MITHRA, or to a dying patient in Prem Dan and Kalighat, it was Jesus on the cross who called out to them: “I thirst.” -----ooo0ooo----Finally, I return to the reason for the Pilgrimage through India. It is sometimes asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to not send boys to India, but instead to use the money from their fares to directly benefit the poor!” This has always been a dilemma. And if such trips were simply tours of poverty or excursions to third world countries, then the answer would be a resounding “Yes”. But the real answer lies in the title: “Pilgrimage through India”. We call them “pilgrimages” because they are journeys with a sacred purpose, and they are “through” India, because they are very much about immersing ourselves in the life and culture of the people we seek to serve. There is no substitute for the daily encounter with the poor; those living at the margins of society. That’s why Mother Teresa used to say: “Give of your essence, not of your excess”. In other words, it’s not about giving a donation to charity, but rather it’s about being in solidarity with people whom we get to know. To know the names of the children at MITHRA and Daya Dan; to feel genuine emotions for the dying man we nursed at Kalighat, Prem Dan or helped at the railway station, is to open ourselves to the possibility of conversion; to encounter Jesus in the crucified people of our world. This group of pilgrims, like all previous groups, return home saying: “I went to India thinking I was going to give so much, but it was me who received so much from them!” This significant shift, is the realisation that the pilgrimage is not so much about going overseas to serve the poor, as it is a surprise discovery about one’s self – a journey of self-discovery – about our gifts, our limitations, our fears, our hopes, our frustrations, our patience; it’s a lesson that teaches us the limits of our generosity as we throw ourselves into something or when we held back. It’s about courage! Was I able to match my idealism with practice? What caused me to retreat into the comfort of western culture: music, movies, emails and gossip from home. How did I ‘embrace the people of India’? It’s about being amongst the poorest of the poor – the crucified people, and realising, as Mother Teresa said so eloquently – that that is when we encounter Jesus, in his most distressing disguise. It is we who are evangelized – we receive the good news from the poor. We knew we were on holy ground when we walked among the poor who live in wretched conditions in Anna Nagar and Egmore in Chennai. Rather than looking miserable, these slum dwellers embraced us with smiles and welcomed us into their midst. We were amazed and uplifted. It seemed that this was the moment when we truly understood those words of Jesus: “Whatever you do for the least of these, my brothers and sisters, that you do unto Me!” Jesus is truly present in the severely disabled child at MITHRA and Daya Dan who reaches out to touch our hearts. Jesus is the poor child we encounter in the street; He is the countless and annoying beggars on the railway stations; He is the stranger along the way. Each night as we reflected on our experiences throughout the day, the boys were able to share just how much they felt God’s presence in everyone they met. These were all special and blessed moments. Those special times were not just limited to our service opportunities. We felt his presence in the wonderful welcome we received from the simple tribal kids and their families in the hostel and villages of Mandal, Gujarat, and in the people we made an effort to meet in the remote mountains of Nepal as much as it is the lonely and destitute on the streets and railway stations and the dying in Kalighat and Prem Dan, and the severely disabled children at Daya Dan who miss out on adoption. All of these people have touched our lives. They have left an indelible mark on our souls. None of this would have been possible if we had stayed at home. We cannot simply forget them.

-----ooo0ooo----So it is little wonder to me that the boys, slumped in their seats at Kalighat airport on the night of our departure from India, had so much to contemplate. Whether they realised it or not, they have been changed. Large and small conversions had taken place in their hearts. They have come face to face with God. Just as those two disciples on their way to Emmaus encountered the stranger and only later realised they had been in the company of Jesus, so too, our pilgrims had encountered Jesus, and now their hearts were burning with this discovery. The Pilgrimage through India experience is about a way of living in the spirit of pilgrimage, a way of living that opens us to the unexpected encounter with Jesus in our daily life. We all have to return to our ‘normal’ lives. Few of us will feel called to serve God as radically as Mother Teresa. But we return home with our hearts on fire!

I wish to acknowledge the wonderful support given to me by my two fellow pilgrimage leaders: Mr Leo Murray and Mr Michael Slack-Smith. They were responsible for keeping the preparation happening whilst I was away in the USA. During the pilgrimage itself they were indispensable as co-leaders, fellow teachers and friends. Their support was invaluable. And I wish to acknowledge their considerable sacrifice in leaving their own families over the Christmas period. It is my prayer and hope that each young man who made the pilgrimage through India will always be a man of compassion. Who knows, maybe some may even return to India one day. May God continue to bless each pilgrim, and may the pilgrimage continue to motivate them to want to do more for the poor and powerless in our world.

Brother Rob Callen, cfc

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Pilgrimage Through India

Pilgrimage Through India

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Pilgrimage Through India

Hearts on Fire!

Trinity pilgrims reflect on their experiences in India.

Nicholas Barbas:

Although India is now a distant memory, each and every day I am reminded about one part of its beautiful culture. Whether it be the children in MITHRA and Mandal, the beaches of Goa, the sights of Delhi and Agra, the Himalayas in Nepal, the cows in Varanasi or the patients in Kolkata. The memory I seem to catch when I am thinking about India, however, is the amazing experience I spent with my mates helping those less fortunate than ourselves. The experiences in MITHRA and Kolkata, particularly, were only more fulfilling when there was a strong sense of brotherhood between all the pilgrims. In helping the poor, we learnt to take care of one another and value the importance of care and compassion in any friendship. I don’t really know if I learnt something about myself in India, perhaps it may have been finding the courage to feed a physically handicapped child, or dress a dying man’s infected wound, but I do know that I learnt more about life from the people we helped than I had ever learnt. I learnt that in life it is essential to be loved and cared for, nobody deserves to be lonely. I learned that without the compassion of human relationships, we are hollow and simply empty inside.

The experience that touched me most during India was the work at Prem Dam in Kolkata. It was awesome to see volunteers from every corner of the world come together to work in unity for the betterment of the dying destitute. Although it was quite hard, and confronting at times, the satisfaction of knowing that a patient has been helped with the dignity and respect they deserve is priceless. India has made me think differently about things in Perth. One of the more significant things is that I seem to substantially value everything I have here at home. I also realise the magnitude of the world I live in, and Perth is nothing, compared to the rest of the world. I know it will be said countless number of times by the rest of the boys, but the pilgrimage was something I will never forget; an experience that has changed my way of thinking and the way in which I perceive the world. It was awesome.

Matthew Bowen:

My experiences on the Trinity College Pilgrimage to India are ones that I will never forget. Those words are what everyone is expected to say when they return, but I mean it and I know the other boys feel the same. It was the closest I could imagine to a perfect trip, so well organised in a country where utter chaos is part of everyday living, and that’s all thanks to Br. Rob Callen, as well as Mr Leo Murray, Mr Michael Slack-Smith and Mrs Marya Stewart who kept it all together prepilgrimage.

There are some distinctive moments that stand out for me, especially the Madras Institute to Habilitate Retarded Afflicted (MITHRA), Daya Dan and Kalighat, although the rest of the Pilgrimage was just as fantastic. The work at these institutes was extremely rewarding, which again sounds textbook, but it’s no lie that you get out as much as you put in at these places. The boys quickly learned that once you immersed yourself in the work, the time flew by a little too quickly, and one moment that cemented this for me was Rosie’s emotional exit from MITHRA.

At the end of every stint, whether it be at Daya Dan, MITHRA, Kalighat or Prem Dan (where Nicholas, Eddie and Rob went for our time in Kolkata), everyone was a bit down, because there were so many friendships made, and so many people you wanted to get to know. At the same time, however, we felt we had fully accomplished something, hoping we had made a difference to the patients or students, and knowing they had made an impact on each and every one of us.

There was a totally different side to the Pilgrimage as well, just as enjoyable in its own way, which was our “break time” in Nepal and Varanasi. This was time off around Christmas, which allowed us to enjoy another country altogether, reflect on our time in India so far, and recharge for our last week of work in Kolkata. We enjoyed Kathmandu, with its friendly people and fantastic views of the Himalayas far off in the distance, then bussed around Nepal, first to an island in Chitwan National Park, then to Daman. Seeing the wildlife in Chitwan was amazing and refreshing as, apart from livestock in Mandal, we hadn’t had a huge dose of nature for a while. All of Nepal was fantastic; they have a huge religious base, mainly Buddhist, and are very devoted to their religion. During the last few days in Kathmandu we celebrated Christmas, which was different away from our families, but a spiritual and jolly time all the same.

My most valued parts of the Pilgrimage were definitely the institutes where we worked, as well as the travel and generally the atmosphere created by such a good group of boys. I managed to make new friendships and strengthen old ones, and myself and those boys are just as enthusiastic about the India experience now as we ever were, as it has made such a lasting impact on us all. India is a place where I have no regrets going, and am eager to return to as soon as possible.

Pilgrimage Through India

Jerome Davenport:

I think about India quite often, every time I look at a picture or just getting on a bus or train because that all brings back many treasured memories especially when someone complains about how packed it is on the school bus! The children and people of India are the memories I like to think over because they were so amazing and full of joy when all they might have had was a rag to lie on or a piece of cardboard. I learnt a lot about myself in India especially how I interact with people and those whom I usually wouldn’t talk to or associate with. But India taught me to accept those young children as well as unfortunate people whom I wouldn’t usually look at twice.

The experience that touched me most in India was during our time in Calcutta at Kalighat – the home for the destitute sick and dying. I was walking between a row of the beds when an old man waved me over and asked me to kneel beside him. At this point I was curious as to what he was doing. Then he blessed me. He asked me my name with the little English he knew and blessed me. I was speechless because he was the one who was sick and dying. And he blessed me! I know I’ve been blessed by priests before, but it was nothing like this! This was God to me, probably the first time I’ve felt God. This was where I found my most touching experience.

My pilgrimage through India has definately made me think about the way we act in Perth. We are the monsters of the world. We eat everything up and these people have nothing. People think they do something by giving an organisation a dollar a day, but you know nothing of the reality of what is happening in our world until you see it for yourself. I feel every person should experience poverty once in their life. It will shock them to the bone, but they will realise just how fortunate we are.

Robert Faraone:

When I reflect on my time in India I can’t help but remember my first impression of India when I walked out the airport doors in Chennai and was hit by the culture. Chennai was an amazing experience helping the children at MITHRA was unbelievable. Whilst going there to help them learn and to enjoy each other’s presence outside of the classroom it was noticeable that the children are always looking out for each other and are the best of mates with each other. They have no enemies. The children taught me to be a giver, by helping others, through watching the more physically able children help out the less able before themselves. One boy comes to my mind in particular he would help feed some of the children at each meal time before attending to his own needs and help dress the other children in the morning. The friendships that I built with the children in Chennai and also the patients in Kolkata at both Kalighat and Prem Dan will never be forgotten.

James Grierson:

India was the most amazing experience of my life. When I think back to it, the things that grab my memory most are all of the people and the general happiness and joy they brought to me. I think of the people just on the street that I got to meet, and also the people we were working with in close contact. I see wonderful, bright colours and amazing monuments that grab my attention when thinking about India. In India I learned that I was not really the one who was giving when I try to help someone, whether it be in Perth or India. It’s the person I am giving to who is really giving to me. I think I also developed a greater tolerance for other peoples’ needs. Every day in India there were over 100 amazing experiences, yet the experience that touched me most in India was my relationship with a young boy called Vamilraj at MITHRA. It was extremely hard to have a conversation with him, yet it felt as if we understood each other through hand signals. As I put my thumbs up and smiled, he would put his up, put his hand next to mine and grin, even as he was coughing. This was powerful to me. Since returning to Perth, I do think differently about some things. I now do not see the poor, sick or destitute as a class or group with whom I can’t relate. I feel I can interrelate with any human being. I think I am also more relaxed about nearly everything here in Australia, as a lot of things do not seem to matter to me as they did before.

Aaron Jenkins:

The pilgrimage gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in a totally different culture. The number of people in the streets, the severe poverty, the different food and smells of India, the amazing buildings, temples and mosques. The children in MITHRA, so disabled, so deprived yet they always had smiles on their faces. They taught me to be happy and smile much more than I taught them. I was way out of my comfort zone when I first fed a disabled boy in MITHRA, however after a few goes it became a lot easier. We had the best time during our R&R in Goa, and riding the elephants in Nepal. I hated being restricted on a budget there were so many amazing things I wanted to buy.

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The experience that touched me the most was in Kolkata at the Orphanage in Daya Dan. I met and helped a disabled 4 year old boy called Joe. He had over developed ADHD, his eyes sparkled and he responded so well when I played with him. Nothing is ever what it seems, some people are honest some are not, I have learned to question and trust my own instincts, I am now a much more confident traveller.

On reflection I wish I had done more Christian Service and less travelling around. I plan to return to India within the next 5 years and do some volunteer work at Kalighat the home of the destitute and dying. I said this to a teacher at school and he said “It is one thing saying it but it is another actually doing it” I have been taught by my parents, if I make a commitment to something I have to make every effort to follow it through. If it is God’s will, I will return to India as a volunteer.

Eddie O’Connell:

The pilgrimage through India was without doubt the greatest experience of my life. I had never been overseas before which made it even more of an ‘eye opener’ for me as I immersed myself in a wonderful new culture. Since I have returned home not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought and reflected on my experiences on the pilgrimage.

It is the small, everyday activities that I partake in that really grab my attention. In particular, the activities that are not freely available to the average boy in India, such as high level educational opportunities, employment opportunities, etc. When I do this, I think back to all of the people back in India who still find happiness and joy without these opportunities that I am given. The reason that this grabs my attention is not to realize how lucky I am here in Perth, it is because I am envious of the joy and happiness expressed by an average family living in India without these luxuries. Witnessing this joy in almost everyone that I interacted with was the aspect of the pilgrimage that touched me the most. Experiencing this has also made me look differently on myself and almost everyone that I know living in Perth. I believe that everyone should aspire to find happiness in there lives the way that I saw in India, through family and friends rather than X-boxes and new wide-screen TV’s.

Tom Rose:

For me the Indian Pilgrimage has been the best experience of my life and I would go back tomorrow if I could. What I remember most about my time in India is that wherever I went, as soon as I starting taking pictures and someone noticed, they would want to be in it. In Egmore, some of the poorest slums in Chennai, all the kids were so happy to see us, – something I didn’t expect. Going into the slums I assumed people wouldn’t be as friendly as they were, but I was very wrong! The people there would have been happy for me to take pictures of, and with them, all day. It would be these memories of happy faces as well as all the memories of MITHRA, Mandal, Kalighat and Daya Dan that I treasure and think of the most.

My time in India has made me reconsider what I want to do once I have finished school. When I was in Kolkata I talked to volunteers who had been there for months; some even staying up to a year. This made me think, ‘Would I be able to do that?’ But also it made me ask: “How could I use what I study at Uni to serve at MITHRA, Kolkata or somewhere else!”

Dean Savage-Morton:

Well I guess for me going to India was a chance to experience a side of my heritage relatively unknown to me. But when we arrived in Chennai I realised that I was going to get much more from this journey than just a chance to see my heritage. Often, now, when I think about India I realise that we in Australia have everything we need to live a full and happy life, yet we always feel that we need more and more to be satisfied. This is not the case in India. Over there they have nothing, yet they lead much happier lives than we do. In my journal I have a quote form the Dalai Lama: “I frequently travel around India and have come across a lot of people who have led a very impoverished material life and whose health was worse off than mine, but they were living a far happier life than the wealthy people I have met.” Upon my return to Perth I now realise and appreciate the full meaning of those words.

Leo Murray:

When I catch myself thinking about India, I remember many people everywhere, a tremendous vibrancy, lots happening, movement, noise, colour, smells….

I remember waiting for a train to Kolkata at night near Varanasi. Because of fog in Delhi, all trains were delayed and we weren’t sure if and when our train would arrive. One train was delayed for at least fourteen hours. While we waited, we saw so much life happening around us. Beggars were approaching us, hoping for a little something. People were walking up and down the platform selling their wares – fruit, water, food, shining shoes, an amazing variety of goods. Other permanent

Pilgrimage Through India

stalls were very busy also. As the night got colder, some people settled down to sleep for the night. A cow wandered past, followed by several dogs. When things were quiet, rats ran along the tracks. Trains arrived and left, teeming with people. More than 26 million people travel by train in India every day and many of them were moving through Varanasi that night. When one train arrived at our platform hundreds of people tried to squeeze on to the already crowded train, but people onboard refused to open the doors. There were scuffles and shouts and protests but the passengers already in carriages refused to yield. As the train moved off, people were clinging on to windows and doors, still hoping to gain entry. We only had to wait three hours for our train and got on board without a struggle.

I trust in God that everything will be alright. It is an act of faith to accompany nine young people to India, to support them in their experience in a very different culture. I was able to have confidence in them that they would give of their best and they did that. I am much more patient than I once was. I embraced the experience and loved the food, meeting people in such varied circumstances and receiving very generous hospitality. I was prepared to listen, observe and enjoy without trying to impose solutions.

One afternoon in Kalighat, the home of the dying, I spent a long time with a man who was suffering a severe asthma attack. The doctor who examined him said that this man was not getting any air to his lungs. The nurse told me to stay with him, to try to help him to be calm and to encourage him to breathe. I held him and massaged him and spoke to him for hours. At the end he was able to breathe again. For me it was exhausting, but for him it was a death to life experience.

In Perth, life is very well organised in comparison with India. Shopping precincts and roads do not seem at all crowded. I appreciate even more how good things are for my children and I thank God for our decision to raise our family here. Any concerns I have seem very unimportant compared to the harsh reality that so many people face in India very day.

Michael Slack-Smith:

Often to understand yourself you need to experience something different. India, the good and the bad, was one of those experiences for me. Two things struck me in particular: the public spirituality and the generosity of many of the people we met. Temples in the street, people praying at shrines; it’s everywhere. Where is this in Australia? Are we too embarrassed? We experienced many generous actions from the Indian people, from rickshaw drivers buying us chai; burning Indian pop CD’s and friendship. Living in the suburbs in Australia, are we that generous and friendly to strangers? India was my reminder!

Br Rob Callen:

The title we gave this pilgrimage through India was “Hearts On Fire”, and it seems now so apt. When I look back and think about the thirty days we spent in India during the Christmas holidays I think of a group of young men who were so fired up with the goodness and generosity to take on every new and difficult challenge before them. I look back with pride as I see these nine Trinity boys throwing themselves into the tasks of daily washing clothing and feeding the severely disabled children at MITHRA. These boys were well and truly out of their comfort zones but they gave their all. And when I think of the ways in which they embraced the tribal children from the villages of Mandal and the ways they tried to be culturally sensitive when sharing the deprivations of village life staying overnight and sharing a single bed or a mat on the floor, I feel very proud.

The same story can be told many times over. Surely it was their deep faith and enormous goodness and generosity that enabled them to rise at 4:15 a.m. each morning in Calcutta to attend Mass at Mother Teresa’s Motherhouse and then to fan out across Calcutta with other volunteers to work in the challenging homes for this world’s most wretched. Yes, I reflect on this last Pilgrimage through India and I think of these boys and the teachers and I thank God for them. They were indeed “men for others”. They were men whose hearts were on fire with a passion to make a difference in this world. And I pray now that no matter where life may lead them, their “India experience” will enable them always to be men of great compassion most especially for the poorest of the poor!

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