Local Theresians will long remember experience of India's poorest 

Homeless poverty-stricken boys sleep in the streets of Kolkata, India, where some Springfield Theresians recently visited. “The sidewalks were filled with people sleeping,” said Victoria Schmidt, executive director of Theresians International, who lives in Springfield. “You really have to be there in Kolkata to understand all that we saw, but I try to express it to others.”

As this Christmas season approaches Victoria Schmidt, executive director of Theresians International, and over 20 Theresians are no doubt comparing life in America to the poverty-stricken area of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. That's because at the end of October Schmidt, nearly two dozen Theresians and a few husbands spent a week in Kolkata, following a Theresians International conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

"We were in Bangkok from Oct. 17-19 and since we were so close to Kolkata - about four hours by air - I had a thought to offer a ‘Journey of Awareness' to experience the work of Mother Teresa," Schmidt said, explaining that the Theresians, who have 154 communities in nine countries, are "women supporting women and reaching out with Gospel values to one another and to the communities where we live." She said the idea came to her last year as she visited Kolkata.

"Kolkata alone is an amazing sea of humanity - about 16 million people - and their unique Hindu culture and the magnitude of the desperately poor there is an amazing experience," she said. "I had the inspiration to invite others to come and see for themselves the beautiful work of the Missionaries of Charity."

Accompanying Schmidt from Springfield were Blessed Sacrament parishioners Deacon David Erdmann and his wife Barbara Erdmann, Patty Drake and Mary Staudt; St. Cabrini parish nurse Mary Ann Burns; and St. Joseph parishioner Barbara Fuhrwerk.

While in Kolkata the Theresians attended 6 a.m. daily Mass at the motherhouse and then traveled around the city to visit some of the ministries run by the Missionaries of Charity. The sisters couldn't have been more hospitable, Schmidt said.

They visited Nirmal Hriday, a home for the dying at Kalighat; Shishu Bhavan, their orphanage; Prem Nivas Gandiji Leprosy Center; Shanti Dan, a home for mentally handicapped women; and Howrah, a home for mentally handicapped young boys run by the Missionary of Charity brothers. 

"We also visited a wonderful program called Ankur Kala, a ministry formed by an Indian woman named Annie Joseph, which invites women living in the desperate poverty to learn a trade and build their self esteem, so they can support their families," Schmidt said. "Many of the women have lost their husbands through death and because they are in a lower caste they have no skills or education.

"Annie's program is so beautiful. The women create beautiful batik fabric, can fruit, sew beautiful bags, skirts, scarves and just a variety of craft items," she said. "Their products are sold at Ten Thousand Villages and fair trade stores around the world. It was a privilege to learn of their work.

"We also visited an L'Arche Community in Kolkata, which was founded by Jean Vanier. This was a real gift as well. They provide loving care for over 60 mentally handicapped men and women."

In an effort to share her thoughts with other Theresians, Schmidt e-mailed a journal that recorded her thoughts of the day. In her initial journal entry she wrote, "The first morning we set out for Mass, I stepped outside the gate of the hotel and looked to my left and there was a family sleeping on the sidewalk. One of the children, a little girl about age 3, lay there sound asleep as morning was breaking. She was naked from the waist down, lying on her back.

"I was overcome with the vulnerability of what it must be like to live on the streets in any city. As everyone came out to load into the vans, there were tears and looks of shock on their faces. As we looked to the left and right of the gate, the sidewalks were filled with people sleeping. It is such a gift to be reminded how blessed we are and to feel the struggle of why we have so much and others have so little."

On another day: "We departed for the Home for the Dying where Mother Teresa's work started. We stayed for about two hours, just visiting the patients. Many of us brought hand cream and we massaged hands and arms and legs. One woman in the bed next to me had been found on the streets very ill and rats had chewed on her feet so badly that she lost two of her toes and there was a large hole in her foot just behind her toes.

"Another young man was found with a foot so infected that it was full of maggots and four of his toes had to be amputated. It is shocking to see this and to know that this is actually happening to people just like you and me who are loved by the same God and cherished. I will never stop wanting to know why the world has to be such a brutal place to live for some and not for others."

Schmidt said for most of the travelers, this was their first experience in a Third World country. "As you can imagine, a journey like this is such an awesome and such a deeply spiritual experience. Many hearts were transformed on this journey."

Barbara Erdmann said she is one of those people. "I was just amazed at the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer from all over the world," she said. Although she had been to Haiti before, her husband Deacon Erdmann had never before visited a Third World country. 

Erdmann said she was most impressed with their visit to Nirmal Hriday. "I was moved to be able to visit the people who live there," she said. "The sisters care for the people with such incredible reverence. It is a holy place."

Traveling to Kolkata with her husband was important to Erdmann. "It was incredibly rewarding. You know, I am glad that I'm living with the guy who made the journey with me," she said. "I am grateful that we were able to do this together. I came home with an awareness of how blessed we are in this country to have the freedoms we have."

For Fuhrwerk, this was her second visit in as many years. "This year I knew what to expect. Last year, I was in awe of everything. This year I was much more engaged with the people."

If she were ever to return to Kolkata, Fuhrwerk would like to be more involved with the people. "If I had the chance I would go back in a heartbeat," she said. "This time we were able to hold the babies in the orphanage, but I'd like to do more.  I'd want to go back and be one of  Mother Teresa's helpers and do things on a daily basis.

"This time when I was there the people were the same, but I wasn't the same," Fuhrwerk said. "With Christmas coming, I think this season has taken on a whole new meaning. I look around and see that we just have so much stuff. These are people who don't even have one meal a day. Yet, I was amazed at the joy that they have in spite of the poverty."