Our Journey to Kolkata, India

New Friends

2010-01-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful to all the people we met while staying in Calcutta. They made our stay much more enjoyable and comfortable. To the people who took care of us at the Volunteer house and the staff at the hospital and last but not least the leadership of Mercy Ministries. Thank you so very much.

Geraldine and Jean

You both were a tremendous help to us and a resource of knowledge and information. We couldn't have done some of the things we did without your help. We wish you both the best in your future endeavors and hope to see you again someday.

Amitabh

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with us and all the time you spent in keeping in touch with us before we even got to Calcutta.

Pastor Joshua

Thank you for your labor of love for the patients of the hospital. We enjoyed going on rounds with you to pray for the patients.

Orijeet and Pastor Phillip

Many thanks to Orijeet and Pastor Phillip and their staff at the Volunteer house for your care and attention to our every need. We appreciate all that you did to make our stay comfortable and enjoyable.

Chinese Dinner with AG members

2010-01-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

Our team enjoyed a wonderful chinese dinner with members of the AG church and Mercy Ministries. We are here with Huldah Buntain one of the founding members of the Calcutta Mercy Ministries. Huldah and her late husband built the Mercy Hospital and the various ministries that bring hope and healing and the message of Christ to many in Calcutta.

Here are some of the leadership of the ministry. Sanjay and Ruhi Prasad, and Bonnie Buntain Long.

Members of our team enjoying their dinner. Pastor Janelle, Alexa and Wendy.

Dr. Marocco prays over Jim and Bonnie celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.

Shopping and Dining in Calcutta

2010-01-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

Shopping at New Market for scarves and Indian attire. It was a challenging experience. We were harassed and bombarded by every shop keeper. There are hundreds of shops to choose from Vendors are selling everything from teas to jewelry. A warning to anyone going to Calcutta...keep away from New Market. The prices are high, even if you spend time bargaining. Tourists think they get a good deal just because they bargained for a lower price. Not true. The best place to shop is the Government Markets or the street vendors. The Government markets have set prices and no pushy shop keepers hounding you.

There are street vendors of every kind selling a variety of foods and goods. The street foods were not safe for us to eat, but we could by some of the fruits and vegetables. We had to buy a papaya from this street vendor in order for me to get this picture taken. The locals are particular about tourists taking their pictures. You must ask their permission before snapping your camera.

Eating out in restaurants is very inexpensive. Even in the fine dining places we found it to be very clean and quality food.

Lunch at Pizza Hut was a good change and a good value. A medium size vegetarian pizza was only 390 rupees - less than $8 US.

We had a geat dinner at Marco Polo. Restaurants are very inexpensive even the nicer upscale restaurants. We were able to have Filet Mignon for around $6 USD.

McDonald's Calcutta. They do not serve any burgers or beef due to the Hindu religion of not eating cows. The only meat on the menu is chicken, fish or vegetarian sandwiches.

Assembly of God Church Calcutta 50 Years

2010-01-31T16:13:00.000-08:00

The First Assembly of God Church celebrates their 50 years of ministry in Calcutta. The Sunday worship service was held at a large outdoor venue with over 3000 people in attendance. Everyone was dressed in traditional Indian attire. There were speakers from all over the world and attendees from their extension churches.

Gerald, Geraldine and Bill
Dressed in their Indian attire.

Alexa, Wendy and Pastor Janelle getting a suntan in the front row. Where's Daryl?

Pastor Marocco was one of the guest speakers and honored guest. He was born in Calcutta and his parents were the first to start the AG church in Calcutta.

Stars Welfare Society

2010-01-31T15:59:00.000-08:00

A visit to Stars - Welfare Society, Turning Scars into Stars. Children come from the slum areas and are educated at this remarkable school. Overseas volunteers come and help do the teaching. There is a myriad of curriculum being taught to help these children have a brighter future.

Kafa and Yasmin Chung are the founders of this wonderful school. They have dedicated their lives into seeing that these children have a better future. We pray for God to continue to bless their work.

Mercy Hospital Pediatrics

2010-01-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

We spent a lot of time in the pediatrics ward. Alexa is delivering a Mother's Box containing toiletries for the mother and a gift for the baby. This little girl is scheduled for a series of surgeries and is here with her grandmother. Their family was considered cursed by their town because the baby was born deformed. The culture considers any kind of physical deformity to be a curse.

This is Daownry Shaha. She has a fatal disease and is awaiting a donor for a bone marrow transplant.

Most of the mothers will live in the hospital with their children while they receive treatment.

The children here are all awaiting surgery for either cleft palates or some life threatening disease. Mercy Hospital does many cleft palate surgeries and receives donations to provide the services free of charge.

Video - Ashish Singing

2010-01-26T22:12:00.000-08:00

Time passes slowly in the pediatrics ward. Our team spent time with the kids, such as Ashish. He is an adorable boy that is battling a life threatening disease. He is singing for us here with his mother.

Video - Taxi Ride to New Market

2010-01-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

Taxis are an inexpensive way to get around in the city. We are on our way to shop at a large shopping mall called New Market. The taxi ride was an adventure in itself. Horns are blaring, the taxi is weeving in and out of in the traffic. It was a lot of fun.

Ferry Cruise

2010-01-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

We took a ferry ride across the river and did a tour of the slum areas of Calcutta. The river is an important part of the cultural celebrations in India.

After the ceremonies are over the debris is left at the river's edge.

People of Calcutta live in many types of homes or houses. The slum areas are in contrast to the city buildings. Those living in the streets literally live on the streets. They do everything from bathing to cooking to sleeping to doing their bathroom duties all on the streets.

Dharpa Feeding Program

2010-01-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Calcutta Mercy Ministries has a feeding program that feeds 25,000 people a day. We got up early Saturday morning and drove outside of Calcutta city to a feeding station in the countryside. The meal consisted of rice mixed with dal (lentils). This would be their only meal of the day or any food if it weren't for CMM.

It was early morning and we were huddled around the fire to keep warm.

Mother Theresa's Home and Orphanage

2010-01-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

We visited to Mother Theresa's home and orphanage. We attended Mass which was at 6 am with many of the volunteers and the Sisters that live at this house. Mother Theresa is also buried here. She established the Missionaries of Charity that takes care of the orphans, disabled and the dying. There are volunteers from all over the world that come and serve.

The Missionaries of Charity at Premdan is one of the Mother Theresa homes. This specific home is for adults that are dying. We volunteered there and helped with caring for the residents. We did everything from changing dirty bed linens, to changing the their clothes, taking them to the toilet and serving them their dinner. We also washed all the dishes. The men and women are separated in 2 different wards. Photography is not allowed at any of the homes.

Royd St. Assembly of God

2010-01-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

Royd St. is where the first Assembly of God church was built. And the first Christian church to have been built in a 100 years in Calcutta. The church is still being used and is also a school and printing press.

Video- Divine Fellowship School for the Blind

2010-01-21T04:09:00.000-08:00

We spent the afternoon with the students of the Divine Fellowship school for the blind. The students learn to read Braille and learn skills for them to live normal productive lives. They are incredibly loving and intuitive. They move about by sound and don't need any other assistance to find their way around. There are 145 kids that live at the school for 10 months out of the year.

We served lunch for the students. After lunch each student took their plates and went outside to wash it. We passed out cookies for their dessert.

The students love visitors and they love to sing and dance. Even though they are blind they are very smart. They can tell how tall a person is just by feeling and exploring the size of a person's hand. They also play sports such as cricket.

Painting the Out Patient Dept

2010-01-21T02:50:00.000-08:00

Here we are prepping the walls for painting in the out patient ward. We spent the evening washing down the walls. The next day we primed and painted. We painted a total of 11 examing rooms, 2 waiting rooms and the foyer.

First Assembly of God Calcutta

2010-01-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

First Assembly of God Calcutta. It has church services in 8 languages.

Pastor Janelle was asked to give a word at the church service on Sunday. Next to her is Huldah Buntain to woman who along with her husband started the hospital, schools, clinics and the feeding program.

Video - Slums of Calcutta

2010-01-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

As we drove by one of the worst slums in Calcutta, my heart was moved by the children. As they played and laughed in a place most people in the US would not even set foot in. I just wanted to scoop all the children up and take them home with me.

Signs & Warnings

2010-01-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Interesting signs I didn't see anyone adhering to them.....honking is prevalent in the city.

Enjoing Chai

2010-01-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Gerald enjoying his chai.

I loved it too.

Chai is served in these clay cups and then thrown away. It's cheap to make these cups and it's also biodegradable.

People in Everyday Life

2010-01-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

Little boy playing on the roof.

Street below hospital

Taking a siesta on the roof top

Waiting for the Prime Minister

2010-01-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

The prime minister was due to pass by and the police were trying to keep people off the streets. Park Street is a very congested street. Taxis and people are in abundance. The police kept yelling at the people to stay off of the street. Park Street is the main street with many restaurants and shops. It is located just one block away from the Volunteer house.

Rooftop View

2010-01-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

We had a view of the city from the roof of the hospital. Calcutta is the largest city in India with a population of 18 million people.

The beautiful colors of the saris help to brighten up the old delapidated buildings and polluted skies.

Mercy Hospital

2010-01-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Mercy Hospital is one of the best hospitals in Calcutta. 80% of their patients are cared for without charge. They also take care of hundreds of cleft palate children free of charge. The hospital was built due to the vision and faith of Mark Buntain who did not live to see the completion of the hospital. His wife Huldah took on the project and her faith helped bring her husband's vision into reality.

Volunteer Orientation

2010-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Mercy Hospital is where we will be spending most of our time volunteering. We had a brief orientation and a tour of the hospital.

Pastor Philip-Chaplain & Volunteer Coordinator
He gave the ins and outs of what to do and not to do while in Calcutta. We got a view of what to expect as we took our first step outside the Volunteer house. The street was already busy with people doing their daily routines. The street was quite dirty and it already started to smell.

First Morning in Calcutta

2010-01-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

First day at breakfast. We are enjoying being cooked for. We have 3 meals a day prepared for us. The menu is the same everyday. (Bill did have to buy some hot sauce for his eggs.) Breakfast was white toast, egg omelet and baked beans. For lunch and dinner we were given "mutton" for our main entre, which is goat meat in India, and rice for both meals.

Our Home from Home

2010-01-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

We finally got to our lodging, which is the Volunteer House. A three story building across the street from the Mercy Hospital. We were quite surprised to see where we were sleeping.

Wendy and I noticed that it was not at all like the picture that was on the website. We were a little surprised that we were all staying in the same room. Unbeknownst to us that the men and women were supposed to be separated. And eventually the
men moved to a different room. We did make the best of it and I was sad to see my husband move to another room.

The beds were quite uncomfortable and the bathrooms was something we had to get used to. The hot water only lasted a minute or two. So we had to conserve the hot water so it could last for everyone to take a shower. We could not drink the water, so we had to brush our teeth with bottled water.

Enroute

2010-01-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

L-R Front Row: Joey, Daryl, Pastor Janelle, Alexa
Back Row: Bill, Gerald, Wendy
We'll we're finally on our way. Good bye Maui....Calcutta here we come

It's been a long trip and many hours later we've landed in Calcutta. Our ride to the Calcutta Mercy guest house took us through the city where taxis and cars were en mass. We have been busy catching up on our schedules for the next two weeks, which changes by the day. The people here are similar about time....no hurries or worries.

We were all thankful that we got here safely and so did ALL of our luggage. We were met by a team from the Calcutta Mercy Ministries to take us to the volunteer house located 45 minutes from the airport.

Indian Dinner Maui Style

2009-12-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Here is our group to India. We haven't left Maui just yet. Gerald and I are the only couple in the group. We also have Wendy and Alexa (mother and daughter), Pastor Janelle, Joey and Bill.

We have been getting together for meetings and also to get aquainted with each other. We decided to get our palettes and stomachs ready for our trip. So here we are feasting on garlic naan, samosas, palak paneer, dal, chicken tikka and basmati rice.

The food is much spicier in India and I hear that all the food is spicy. There are some in our group that weren't too crazy about the food. No worries. There are many American fast food places there.