courtney's india journal - June 26

Today was our last day working in the Mother Teresa homes. After breakfast at the Mother House they always ask if it's anyones last day, and we sing a song to them. So today, our whole group got in the middle of everyone and they sang the song:

"We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you from my heart
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you from my heart"

And then it's "We love you" and then "We'll miss you"

So that was kind of fun but a little awkward having everyone singing to us looking at our big group:)

I had a really good time at Prem Dan. We spent the first part doing laundry as usual. Here is a picture of where we did the laundry:


I spent the rest of my time massaging the women, which was really relaxing. And I got to meet a few new women that I've never sat with, so it was fun seeing new faces. It was kind of hard to leave the women, knowing I'll never see them again. But today was such a crazy day, that we were on to the next thing, so we didn't really have a long good-bye or anything. Here are some pictures of the women I spent the most time with: (I wish I knew their names, but Bengali is so hard to pronounce, I couldn't even say it right after hearing them say it)


Here is a picture of the four other girls from my Fox team that went to Prem Dan with me everyday: (me, Molly, Emily, Ra, Meaghan)

So after that we had lunch at KFC which is across from the YWCA where we stay because we wanted something fast. It feels really weird eating fast food in India, I don't like it, but today we were in a hurry, and it takes FOREVER in India to get food, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time. Then we got on the Metro (subway) and headed toward Kalighat for our trip to Sari Bari. Kristen (one of the "Word Made Flesh" workers) met us at our stop and led us to the home where the women work making the quilts. It was really neat hearing about how Sari Bari is making a difference in the lives of these women. And it's not just a place for them to work, but they are also developing their confidence and increasing their self-worth. WMF is really working to encourage them and provide a positive, peaceful environment. They're also teaching the women reading, writing, and math during their training period, which is like 6 months I think.