It is difficult to express in words all that I have learned while in Calcutta, and even more, all that I have felt. I know that I have not lived long enough yet, but I have had many experiences that have changed my perspective on the world, and Calcutta has been one of them. My way of seeing the Indians and the poor has radically changed since I arrived in India until I left. The first few weeks I felt sorry for them, especially when I recognized potential in many of them. I imagined how your life could change if you had the opportunity to go to college and get a job commensurate with your ability. I imagined how his life would improve if he had a fixed home, a clean house, and security. And in the worst cases, I imagined how their life would change if they suddenly had a family, friends and a person by their side. Poverty and misfortune exist all over the world, but we are talking about India, with 1.252 billion inhabitants, high levels of poverty, illiteracy, pandemics, malnutrition and constant violations of women's rights.

It hurt me to see so much talent wasted, and I felt an enormous helplessness that I could not do something immediately for each and every one of them.

At the NGO Vida school, Nirmal Niketan, I was working with 25 children with different problems. I got to know them, and soon after I was in love with three deaf children. Using our hands and facial expressions we understood each other perfectly. I think I fell in love with them because they were SO smart… and I had a huge desire to do something with all that potential. Since I was little I have tried to exploit my potential to the fullest and take advantage of the qualities that God has given me. It hurt me to see so much talent wasted, and I felt an enormous helplessness that I could not do something immediately for each and every one of them. The education they give them at school is very basic, and I wanted more for them.

However, Kolkata is a place where you have to stop and think. There are too many emotions that appear daily. Emotions help us to identify different aspects of the situations we are experiencing, which can go unnoticed by our conscience. They allow us to know ourselves better and help us to relate better with the people around us, enhancing empathy. This moment of stopping to think was my favorite of the day. At 6 in the afternoon we had adoration at Mother House, and there we had the opportunity to talk with God and reflect on everything we have experienced that day. The experiences are much more intense if you find the time to analyze them. It was there in the chapel, where little by little I stopped feeling sorry for the sick, or the poor, or the school children ... it was there that I began to realize that the help they receive from us (the volunteers) is more that enough. That unfortunately seems little to me, but not to them. It is hard to believe that for a person who is alone in Kalighat, a conversation every day with a volunteer amounts to an intimate relationship for me with someone very special. And that a bed and a safe place where they cannot be harmed is equivalent to my home for me. As long as they don't know my standard of living, they will never need it. In the chapel I learned to envy them because somehow the "lucky ones" like me are doomed and we will always find more things to worry about, when they worry about practically nothing. Not everyone has told me, but his smile from ear to ear every day has. Surely this is something that you have heard before: in poor countries the level of happiness is much higher than in developed countries. But really, knowing it is not the same as seeing it and feeling it. It is a life lesson. It is a journey in which you give and receive in the same degree. I would even go so far as to say that you get more than you give.

The driving force behind the Missionaries of Charity is its volunteers, without them it would not be possible to carry out the work that must be done daily in all the centers.

You have to know well the culture and the specific situation of each one to really know what kind of help they need, and you will almost always discover in India, that with little you do they are already happy, and that giving them more could be harmful for them. This is aimed especially at people who believe that they are not going to contribute with anything by going a few weeks to such a large country and with such a big problem. The force of the Missionaries of Charity are their volunteers, without them the work that must be done daily in all the centers could not be carried out, work that gives quality of life to the poor. There are many Mother Teresa centers, and a number of volunteers per center. When some leave, new ones enter, forming a chain that never breaks because at some point, somewhere in the world, someone decides to volunteer to Calcutta. This is a miracle and a proof that God exists.

I could talk days and days of all the things you will find in Calcutta; like the Sisters, people who will make you think too much simply by observing them ... or the volunteers who come alone, brave and with a beautiful story behind ... or the Indians, so peculiar and so different ... the laughter that accompany you all the trip because you face a very different culture. It is a unique journey that creates a bond with you forever.

Tere Galnares Milano
VIS Foundation volunteer