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Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in
Macedonia, and became a Catholic missionary
nun in 1928. When she died in 1997, she was
known to the world as Mother Teresa and her
work was synonymous with charity and volun-
teering and inextricably linked with the city of
Calcutta (Kolkata). Mother Teresa’s Missionaries
of Charity (p203) work with some of the world’s
most needy – the ill, the starving and the dying.
With more than 500 branches in over 130
countries, the order consists of around 4500
nuns whose mission is to give ‘wholehearted
and free service to the poorest of the poor’.
Not surprisingly, fame also brought
controversy – mainly centred on Mother
Teresa’s insistence on a life of poverty for not
only herself and her nuns, but also for those in
her care. Critics question the whereabouts of
the billions donated to the missions and criticise
some of the missionaries’ practices.
Nevertheless, each year the Missionaries of
Charity’s eight homes in Kolkata receive count-
less volunteers, both skilled and unskilled, and
many find the experience rewarding, humbling
and eye-opening.Lucas’ Experience
Lucas McIntyre volunteered with the mission through
Seattle University’s student-based Calcutta Club and
speaks candidly about his placement.My experience as a volunteer with the Mis-
sionaries of Charity in Kolkata was complex and
multifaceted. Being agnostic, I was not attracted
to the religious aspect of their work; however,
I was attracted to their simplicity and their
mission of working directly with the ‘poorest of
the poor’. I volunteered for three months in the
men’s ward at Prem Dan, the home for long-
term and chronically ill patients. While I was
there in 2004, Prem Dan housed 100 men and
100 women; however, when I left the centre was
expanding to hold at least twice that number.
My days at Prem Dan were varied and
included feeding men, dressing wounds, clean-
ing the facility, and simply hanging out with the
patients. Most if not all of the patients at Prem
Dan were brought in off the street and usuallysuffered from a number of afflictions ranging
from starvation to wounds from street accidents
to tuberculosis. Since I was a longer-term
volunteer (many people only volunteer for a few
days or a few weeks), and I expressed interest,
I was given basic wound-care training.
During my three months at Prem Dan, which
was spread out over six months between travel
and volunteering with a microfinance institution,
I became critical of some of the MCs’ practices.
While I acknowledged that they were providing
better care than the patients would otherwise
have received (which for most would have been
none at all), this did not excuse the neglect of
some easily fixed problems. For example, the
MCs would wash and reuse latex gloves. This
horrified me, especially since there did not
seem to be a scarcity of latex gloves. They also
did not segregate contagious TB patients from
other patients, which caused new infections.
In addition to this, while there was an Indian
doctor who saw patients once a week, the
day-to-day wound care of the patients was
haphazard, which frustrated me.
There were positive aspects to my experience,
as well. I enjoyed the direct contact with the
patients and found a lot of joy in their company.
I also found the eclectic group of volunteers
drawn from all over the world to be a fertile
source of vibrant conversation and interesting
insights. Besides volunteering, Kolkata itself
was an experience in its own right, with an
intensity and vitality all of its own.
To share more about my experience, here
are some excerpts from emails that I wrote to
friends while I was volunteering:7 March 2004
I run into my friend John, a patient who is
getting better, and we share some genuinely
heartfelt laughter. I can’t quite articulate the
intermixed swirl of suffering and joy that is
Prem Dan. I can say, though, that the suffering
and the joy are equally authentic.18 March 2004
Honestly, there is little to no accountability
here beyond the accountability that one holdsoneself to. No-one checks on me, and I’m not
documented in regard to the work I’m doing. I
become concerned when it is recommended
that we perform surgery on one of the
maggot-wound patients in order to remove
some useless toe bone that is only causing him
pain. The more experienced volunteers know
how to do this, but even so, the power we have
over the health of these men is astounding.
And extremely frightening.
Lucas McIntyreThe Missionaries of Charity
India Kolkata %+91 033 245 2277, +091 033
249; mother house, 54a acharya jagadish,
Chandra bose rd, Kolkata 700016
UK london %+44 (0)20 8960 2644
USA san francisco %+1 415 563 9446,
new York %+1 718 292 0019Australia (^) %+61 (0)3 9 415 1011
New Zealand (^) %+64 09 378 9061
You don’t need to be a follower of the Catholic
faith to volunteer with the Missionaries of Char-
ity, although it may be easier to understand
their aims and practices if you do have a Cath-
olic (or at least Christian) background. You can
simply show up at the Mother House in Kolkata
(check when you arrive as to the times and
days for volunteer registration and orientation),
but it’s a good idea to call or write ahead, par-
ticularly if you are a medical professional. For
Missionaries of Charity in other locations, it is
always best to get in touch before you arrive so
that you can ascertain their needs and whether
or not there will be room for you to volunteer.
Not all of the missions accept volunteers.
Below are contact details of a few of the main
mission houses; write to the Mother House in
Kolkata for details in other countries. Note that,
in keeping with their vow of poverty and their
unadorned lifestyle, none of the missionaries
are contactable online.
However, the Missionaries of Charity are only
one of over 200 charitable organisations work-
ing with the poor in Kolkata; many of the others
may need your help just as much.
bottom: Lucas helping care for the ‘poorest of the poor’ at Prem Dan in Kolkata, top: One of the wards at Prem Dan Photos: Lucas McIntyre
The Mother of Volunteering
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07: Religious Organisations:The Mother of Volunteering