Balo maa...

I am in love.  Her name is Kajol, and she giggled for me for the first time today.
I was sitting with her in my arms and feeding her this afternoon, when one of the masys came up and began to imitate the way that Kajol chews.  She started to talk to Kajol in either hindi or bengali (I still can't tell which is which).  I don't know WHAT she said, but when she was finished, Kajol gets this huge smile on her face.  Now, I was pretty excited about this because I've only ever seen her smile once before.  The masy talked to her a bit more and her smile grows wider and she giggle-squeals in that way that young kids do.  I am ecstatic.  The masy walks away, but Kajol does not stop smiling.  We sit there together for another minute or so, both giggling and smiling as if the funniest thing in the world just happened.  Eventually, I had to go back to feeding her, so we worked on that for a while.  Still, although she's not a big fan of feeding time, that big smile of hers continued to break out between bites for another ten minutes.  
I'm sure you all have heard the saying about loving someone so much it hurts.
I know exactly how that feels now.

That will be 36, madam. Thank you.

Sheesh.  Everyone is leaving.  There are only three of us Seattle kids left:  Jeremiah, Devin, and myself.  It's really weird not to have the others here because we became such a community over the past few weeks.  As Anthony, who is not a Seattleite but was kind of adopted by our group, and I were eating the traditional "Dinner at 7 at Khalsa's" the other night with a new friend we made that afternoon, we were both very much surprised by how quiet our table seemed.  We had gone from a group big enough to take up two tables to a group of 3.  Jeremiah and Devin were out with some other friends of theirs, which is why they weren't there either.  Kolkata definitely does feel quite a bit different now that our usual routine has been broken.  But certainly not a bad different.  It will simply be a lesson in making friends.  Or perhaps getting to know the casual acquaintances I've already made.  Either way, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks despite missing everyone who has left.

Now, down to business.  The Doctor came to Shishu Bhavan last Saturday in order to evaluate our three new children (I need to stop calling them babies, as they're not.), Sonali, Jyotsni, and darling Kajol (I also shouldn't show favoritism, but I can't help it.).  He normally comes every Saturday but had been working in some rural villages to the North for a while and Sister had asked him not to come by during Christmas because we were so busy preparing the program, so this was his first visit in about 2 months.  I wasn't aware that he was coming back so I missed that first visit, but yesterday I went in the afternoon to see and talk to him and take pictures so that we could make profiles for the new kids detailing the types of exercises they should be doing.  
I really enjoyed getting a chance to talk to the Dr. and learn a bit more about what my children are going through, what will help them improve, and why.  Most of the children currently housed in the handicapped section of my floor now have Cerebral Palsy of varying degrees of intensity and affecting various limbs of their bodies.  We went through the exercise routine for each of the three new children and talked about his work with Cerebral Palsy in children, which is his special focus.  He works at two MC homes, Shishu Bhavan and Daya Dan, an institution in India centered around the treatment of Cerebral Palsy, and also dedicates some of his time to going into rural villages to work with families that cannot afford to have their children taken care of professionally.  For these families, he gives them an introduction to Cerebral Palsy, evaluates their child, and helps them learn a daily exercise routine for their child.
This conversation really piqued my interest.  Because we have so many children with Cerebral Palsy, I had done a little bit of research on Cerebral Palsy, but never really got too into it.  My focus lately has mainly been on the childcare aspect of what I'm doing and not so much on dealing with their disabilities.  However, after hearing what he had to say about my kids, the importance of dealing with the disability as well as with the other aspects of the child's life really hit me.  Doing tasks like feeding, changing diapers and playing with the children is obviously very important, but each of those is affected in some way by the Cerebral Palsy.  I definitely felt more confident while exercising with Kajol this afternoon having seen the Doctor the afternoon before and understanding why it was that I was doing what I was doing.  I'm going to try and continue to go to Shishu Bhavan on Saturday afternoons so that I can have a few more chats with the Doctor and learn more about the other kids at Shishu.
Also, this is probably a bit conceited, but it's a lot of fun being the one that the new volunteers go to with questions because I've been there so long.  I love getting to tell people about my children and helping new volunteers learn about the kids. 

Oh baba, time is going by so fast.  In thinking about how many Saturdays I'll have to talk to the Doctor, it hit me that I've only got a month and a day left.  Wow. 

Namaste, all.
Melissa

Sundery, Sundery, I love you. Sundery, Sundery, yes I do...

It has been a long day.

I did not go to the volunteer breakfast this morning, as a Sudder St. friend of mine was teaching me how to make his delicious Nepali Chutney.  I went straight to Shishu Bhavan from there and got there a little bit early, just as the masys were beginning to arrive.  As I was sitting on the bench outside my kids'  floor, one of the masys, the one I respect the most, came to me and said, "Sundery dead." and made the sign of the cross.  I didn't really hit me at first, but as soon as it did, I rushed over to the volunteer breakfast area to see one of the other volunteers who I  knew was particularly attached to her.  She wasn't there, so I just went back to Shishu Bhavan and got started with the kids.
It was really hard to see the way the masys walked around in a daze all morning, and heartbreaking to see the one masy who knew her best and took care of her most begin to cry as she stood in front of the empty bed.
The woman who died, Sundery, was 39 years old and had been at Shishu Bhavan all of her life.  She was severely deformed, and rarely ever left her bed.  She could not speak, but could smile, cry, and show other forms of emotion.  She was beautiful.
This is one of the reasons why I get so upset when people criticize the way the Missionaries work.  The MCs worked hard to keep Sundery alive and well and allowed her to live much longer than she should have.  Despite the fact that she could not move or talk, Sundery was able to bring joy into the lives of millions of Sisters, masys, volunteers, and visitors with just her smile.  Her life could have been wasted, but it was not.  
I know that she was in a lot of pain and that God is taking care of her now, but it was so hard to sit there feeding baby Khajol with that empty bed in front of me.  
Please, everyone, keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  And remember always that a smile can mean a lot to a person.