MARIO, FINANCE MANAGEMENT, SWITZERLAND
“My task at Calcutta Rescue is to modify and improve some financial reports. I’m also helping with different office work.
It has been a rewarding experience. In Switzerland I worked in a bank for several years. Being on a one-year career break, I had the chance to travel in South and Central America and volunteered in Costa Rica as a sports teacher. It was an enjoyable experience but I felt a bit useless. Here, back behind a computer, I’m happy to give my contribution to all the workers of CR. Every day they heal, teach, help, listen and comfort hundreds of people. Their dedication is inspiring.
Every time I can, I escape the office to go out into the field. One Saturday, we took our children from the Disability Project on a picnic to the Botanical Gardens. Playing football, having a good lunch, chasing air balloons and having an ice cream gave them a wonderful time. For me it was sometimes hard to see these disabled children but their smile gave me courage.
We also organised a Brilliant Breakfast to celebrate the achievements of our most successful students. It’s good to see that all our efforts are paying off. Some students are eager to learn, to find a job. Some, after being helped by CR, are now working for us.
Living in Kolkata is also quite an experience. This city has everything to be hated - over-crowded, polluted, noisy and dirty. But life feels strangely good here. Is it the relaxed ambiance, the good food or something mystic… but I’m having a good time. During weekends I’m discovering the former capital of India. Old buildings, the banks of the Hoogly river, holy temples, lively neighbourhoods or clubbing … there’s always something to do in Kolkata.
Everything makes sense now. I feel good in this city and have done since the first day. Working with doctors, teachers, helpers, office staff, volunteers who are trying every day to improve the life of others humans being is an experience I’ll keep with me forever.”
MARIELLE, DISABILITIES NURSE, THE NETHERLANDS
“When I arrived in Calcutta, I really didn’t know what to expect. For me it was my first experience working as a nurse in a foreign country. But working in developing countries, was always something that was in my mind.
I always had that vision that the world is unfairly distributed, and that we should try to share as much as we possibly can. That’s why I am sharing the knowledge I have gained in the field of nursing with others.
Now I am here with Calcutta Rescue for almost 5 months – I can’t believe that half the time (I’m staying 9 months) has gone by already. I feel more and more the need for me to be doing the job I am doing – this is both a challenging and difficult job for many reasons. My main task is to listen – listen to the patients and their stories. Hear what difficulties they are encountering and try to find a way to get them some help to make life a little bit easier for both the patient and family. Sometimes it is just giving them the support to get help - day care, residential care, special education, vocational training, disability cards, below poverty level cards, etc. They are entitled to these resources but do not know about them or how to obtain them. That is what I help them with. But I also want to give my patients more of a life – they need stimulation, activity and more social interaction. I just want them to be happy – very simple, just happy.
During the last year the Disability Team has seen a huge increase in its number of people attending the clinics; that is why a great part of my work initially was to re-organise the systems in order to be able to give continuing and quality care. It was a big responsibility and I am surprised that I was given so much freedom to decide what is best for the department. It has been fun but it has given me plenty to think about! For example, I had never had to do a budget before … that was tough.
What I have experienced up to now is that every culture has its own way of working. You have to respect it, otherwise it can be very frustrating. Also the language barrier can sometimes be very hard …
Step by step I try to achieve my goal. And I try to be satisfied with every step that I can achieve …”
Paul, Pharmacist, UK
"I was nervous but happy to arrive in Kolkata. Having been in India before, I knew the best way was to throw myself into the unknown and take the rough with smooth. The smooth began straight away with two smiling volunteers meeting me at 1am at the airport in the Calcutta Rescue jeep...now that's dedication!
The affordably priced hotel was very basic and clean. Simplicity felt right in such a place as Kolkata. Day dawned and new work beckoned ...and it was all a supercharged adventure.
I worked mostly at the CR Clinic at Tala Park, checking medicine at the pharmacy table before the medicine was handed to patients by an interpreter. It was good, simple work of safe drug supply. Sometimes I felt I was an extra pair of hands to get the work done, certainly not controlling things. This was a good thing - watching our Bengali staff control and shape the care of their own patients, with volunteers helping where they could. It was their organisation now, I felt - just funded and helped by the West. No-one should ever cut that assistance, or else someone in a slum won't get their antibiotics, won't get that vital insulin. Being a support to the staff was good - the medical care is strong and the skills of Bengali staff I found better than 5 years ago when I previously volunteered with CR.
One day, I researched information on a drug the doctors hadn't used before. It helped big time. The end result was a 21 year old girl bleeding to death (with thrombocytopenia) in a hospital got a drug from us that saved her. Without CR, she was gone. It's that simple.
The warmth of people was the greatest thing. The food shacks near Tala Park clinic were closed one day, leaving me hungry. Seeing my disappointment, out of nowhere, a local appeared, bringing me tea and rice cakes. And then she just wandered off home again. The kids, bursting with smiles and a tough everlasting energy, steal your heart wherever they are. You remember who and what you are in Kolkata ... just a person, mixed in with countless others, yet all connected.
Now I'm back home, in fresh air and space, I remember the enduring friendships with the other volunteers, and the adventure of Kolkata still draws me daily. CR saves people by doing the simple things right. It does what it can in a place overpowered by need, amongst a proud and strong people. And CR does it well. Politics and problems may shift like sand in Kolkata as much as in Europe, but the constant stream of medicine to these patients is the highest priority and we keep coming through for them. That is something to be very proud of.”
As the Indians say ‘Many problems in India, but ......... no problem!’
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