Calcutta Volunteer Essay

On my arrival in Calcutta, I was greeted by a group of very enthusiastic volunteers from Taiwan who helped me orientate in a new, foreign environment.

We worked with CRAWL for a few days, but soon ran into problems with the organization. The people-in-charge were inconsistent about the way in which volunteer's fees were used, and whenever we demanded an explanation, we were met with hostility and disrespect. Not only did they reprimand us for "questioning their integrity," they even expelled all the Taiwanese volunteers.

The lack of transparency in this organization was lamentable. In order to resolve the dispute, I asked to see their accounts but they got defensive. They thought that by signing, and thereby agreeing to the contract, the volunteer forfeited the right to question the organization afterwards. But CRAWL failed to honor the contract when they lied to us time and again.

They claimed that they paid an annual flat fee to the hotel to host foreign volunteers. They revealed that of the 17500 rupees that each volunteer paid for the 3-week program, 7500 went to donations while 10000 rupees went to the accommodation fee. However, on checking with the hotel management, this proved to be false, as we discovered that CRAWL was charged like any other regular customer. Moreover, with this new information in hand, we found out that many of us had actually been overcharged for accommodation.

Then CRAWL claimed that the hotel did not usually host foreigners, and that foreign volunteers were only allowed to stay there, on a discounted rate, thanks to a special agreement between CRAWL and the hotel. On checking with the hotel a second time, there appeared to be no such rule restricting the reception of foreign guests, nor was there a special discount for volunteers working for CRAWL. Time and again our investigation refuted their claims.

Then unknown, elusive charges began to crop up in their explanations. Not only were they unable to explain how the accommodation cost came up to 10000 rupees per pax, they began telling the volunteers that apart from the accommodation cost incurred at the hotel, CRAWL also had to pay the rent and utilities bill for the flat. This is outrageous because we were clearly not told beforehand that though we were staying at the hotel, we also had to share the flat expenses.

And if there was something for which they could not furnish a plausible explanation, they'd evasively dismiss it as a misunderstanding. It was very disappointing.

Nonetheless, we did not let this setback upset our plans in Calcutta. Through a stroke of luck, Christine and I found another organization, CSM (Calcutta Stations Mission), to volunteer for. This organization was started by an Australian nurse, and run mainly by foreigners with the help of a few local people. CSM is funded with donations collected overseas and unlike CRAWL, does not charge volunteers a fee.

CSM runs two free clinics that provide basic medical care and health education in slum areas. In Calcutta, public hospitals are often under-equipped, and basic wound care is often neglected. Post-surgical wounds are often left to rot due to lack of wound dressing supplies. We even heard stories of people having to amputate whole limbs because of an infected wound that was not dressed properly.

CSM therefore makes an impact by providing much-needed wound care for free. Foreign volunteers, who are often health professionals, bring in medical supplies that are not available locally. CSM makes regular visits to the local hospitals, singling out patients who need extra wound care. Overall, we were very much impressed by the professionalism that we saw while working with CSM. We also helped out with their daily food program, distributing food to the homeless at the Sealdah Train Station.

Despite the issues that I met with at the beginning, I felt that in the end it was a very enriching experience.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED BY Kok Hou Chia @ Princeton University