Trains and Titagarh

I've arrived in Kolkata and even found a relatively cheap hotel on Sudder Streer (picture on left) with a/c and sans roaches (so far). Thursdays are a day off for volunteers so I was going to have nothing to do. I was fortunate though to get wind of a group of volunteers going to a leper colony run by the Brothers of Charity just out of town. About 25 of us headed out to the Gandhiji Prem Nivas (House of Love) Leprosy Center in Titagarth.

The community is located on a mile long and 50 foot wide stretch of land along the rail line. There is a hospital ward where Brothers of Charity treat patients who come to be treated and recover (the major rail line in West India gives free passage to lepers riding for thjis purpose). There is also a small OR where once a month a surgeon donates his time to perform amputations for patients with gangrenous limbs. These patients all receive fitted prostheses made by other members of the community.

Besides the hospital there are about 200 or so former lepers who stay and work on the colony because of the social stigma that is still associated with the disease. I spoke with one of the brothers who works at the community and he explained that in Indian culture leprosy carries a huge stigma even to those who should know better. He said that the vast majority of physicians in India would refuse to treat a leper although these physicians know that leprosy is very treatable and only minimally contagious. These ex-lepers work in the community and do everything from weave the linen (picture above) for the Sisters' houses in Kolkata and all sarees for the Sisters of Charity world wide. They also raise fish and pork to both eat and sell. One volunteer remarked, "Its such a picture of redemptive living." People who would be otherwise ostracized are able to live together and assist in the advance of the Kingdom.

The train ride back was another adventure. Imagine a crowded Indian train, then add twice as many people. People were literally hanging out the windows. We let the first train go by thinking that the next couldn't be as crowded but it was. We stepped in and hung on. No one fell off but it was an adventurous 30 minute ride.

Later...