The Letters Page #3

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We provide a healing presence

to those in need.

The patient we're going to see now

is extremely ill.

He has open sores

that are infected and festering.

You'll see a lot of this

in the slums of Moti Jihl

when you get back to Calcutta.

In oases like this,

their own families won't take care of them,

so they bring them here to us.

(quiet gasping)

The Medical Mission Sisters have a tradition

of taking care of patients like this.

Are you okay, Mary Teresa?

Let's go outside and get some air.

Please.

It's not a pleasant sight, I know,

and can be very shocking.

But you'll get used to it.

Before long,

you'll be washing those sores yourself-

- Yes.

- And thinking nothing of it.

Yes, I know.

I'm so sorry, Doctor. Very, very sorry.

Maybe we should

slow your training clown a little.

No, no. No.

Please, I will manage.

I have much to learn

before I return to Calcutta.

You're a nun, but you don't Wear a habit.

And you aren't called "Sister."

No, I'm Mary Teresa now.

I Wear chira because it's important for me

to mix with people, to be accepted.

Are you ready to go back inside?

Mmm. Yes, yes.

- Yes.

- Right, let's go back to work.

You'll want to make sure your hands

are clean when you prepare the wound.

You take gauze, dip it in sterile saline

or sterile saltwater,

and then you wring it out.

You put the gauze in the wound,

pack the wound

and then you cover it with a gauze square.

And then you Wrap it up with a gauze roll.

- You see?

- Yes, Doctor.

This patient has an infection

in his abdomen.

It requires antibiotics.

We need to give him

an injection of penicillin into his arm.

Sister Margaret.

First thing we do is we

get all the air out.

Then we clean him with alcohol and gauze.

And then very gently inject

the needle into his arm

and push very slowly.

And when we're done, as we pull it out,

we hold the injection site.

Yes, Doctor.

VAN EXEM:
There was no doubt

that she had found her calling.

Dr. Ahmed tried to make her tougher,

but there was no way she was

going to lose her compassion.

And when she had completed

her medical training,

she headed back to Calcutta

and to the Little Sisters of the Poor

at the convent of St. Joseph's,

Where she also stayed While looking

for a more permanent place to live.

Is it true that she entered the slums

with five rupees in her pocket?

Yes, that is also true.

Five rupees was the equivalent

of, say, one English pound at the time

or an American dollar.

Makes you wonder Where she got the courage.

VAN EXEM:
On the first day

she entered the slums,

she took with her Veronica Games,

a sodality member

of the parish of Santa Teresa.

That was the church she had been attending

since returning to Calcutta from Patna.

Veronica took her around Moti Jihl,

the poorest, wretchedest

quarter of the city.

It's the section which began

just outside Loreto.

And they first stopped at Taltala,

another impoverished

neighborhood of Calcutta

where poor Catholics were known to live.

Though she expected it,

she was still shocked

at the extent of the poverty,

of the suffering.

She had with her no money

with which to help them otherwise.

So all she brought with her

that first day in the slums

was an abundance of love

in her heart and in her soul.

(insects buzzing)

No.

No, no, no.

This is dirty. No, you don't eat.

This will make you sick.

- What are you doing?

- Sick.

Who are you to take food from my child?

- No, I don't take-

- What are you doing here?

- What is going oh here?

- The Woman took food from our child.

- No.

- Who are you?

I'm Mary Teresa.

- (Speaking Bengali)

- (Bengali)

your child to read and Write,

if you like.

- I don't Want money.

- No!

We do not Want you here.

We do not need your help.

We are Hindu.

And do not teach our children

about your god.

Leave.

Just a minute.

This is not a place for you,

a Christian teacher.

You don't belong here.

It's best for you to go.

I may not be Wanted here,

but I am needed.

TERESA:

Dear Father Van Exem,

I am beginning my work in the slums

while also looking for

a more permanent place to live.

I have walked and walked

until my legs ache.

I keep thinking about

how the poor must ache

in body and in soul

while looking for food, for help.

This work is far more difficult

than I had imagined it would be.

Never in all my life did I know

there was such suffering in the world

as I have seen here.

VAN EXEM:

It was only nine months after partition.

The British had relinquished

control of India

after nearly 200 years in power.

So any foreigner at that time

would have been viewed with suspicion

and would be identified

with the oppressors,

which the British were considered,

as well as occupiers.

So, for her to voluntarily

go into that world

and overcome that suspicion,

she had her work out out for her.

(chattering in Bengali)

No. Boys, boys, boys.

I don't have money.

I'm poor like you. Hmm?

Mm-hmm.

But I do have some food for you.

Wait.

(speaks Bengali)

Atal Babu. Please.

Atal Babu.

These children,

I could teach them to read and to Write.

Hmm?

Those are orphaned children.

There are many of them like that.

Go ahead, teach them to read if you like.

Thank you.

Atal Babu,

I'm not here to convert

anybody to my faith.

I'm only interested

to teach children to read, to write.

And to help.

To help people in What Way I can.

(shouting in Bengali)

You Want?

You Want? Come.

Come.

Here, here. Come, come, come.

Come.

You Want bread?

You Want?

I am Mary Teresa. I am teacher.

You boys, you ever been to school?

No?

You would like to go to school?

Yes?

Come, sit clown.

I will teach you alphabet.

You know What it is, alphabet, hmm?

A, B, C, D.

Come, sit.

I will teach you. We will learn.

So, here.

- "A."

- "A."

Good. "A."

BOTH:
"A."

- "B."

- "B."

- "C."

- "C."

- "C."

- "C."

Good.

"A"

ALL:

"A"

"B."!

- "C."

Good. Number four is-

- "D."

- "D."

Very good!

We have now learned

first four letters of alphabet.

You Want to learn more?

Yes?

Come.

Come.

- "E."

- ALL:

- Very good.

- You Want to learn more?

- Yes.

Come. Come join.

Now we have

- "A"

- ALL:
"A."

- "B"

- "B"

- "C."

- "C."

- "D."

- "D."

- "E."

- "E."

Good.

Now, you, which is this one?

-

- That's good.

You Want to learn more? Yes.

Come. Come.

- "F."

- "F."

- "F."

- "F."

Good. Now, all together, from beginning.

ALL:

A, B, C,

D, E, F, G,

H, I.

That's so good, everybody!

Clap. Clap!

Yes. Good. Good, good.

"But the crocodile could not convince him.

'At last, ' he thought,

'Somehow I must get the monkeys heart.'

So he then thought of a plan

and he swam very fast to the monkey.

- He reached the jungle tree and"-

- Atal is wrong.

She should not be here.

He should hot let her teach our children.

She will teach them about

her Christian god.

You will see.

What is she doing here?

Why did she come here?

A white woman?

"The crocodile could not convince her."

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