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Who would have thought a 16 year old
American boy would be given the opportunity to go to Calcutta, India? I surely didn't, the 16 year old was me, Jorden Eck,
and my month long journey began June 24th, in the summer of 2007. This was no vacation, this was a mission inspired by my
grandmother, she had "adopted" a dump during her trip to the same city two years prior, and now she was returning
to check up on the people and to expand the program. It was my first time to India, unlike my brother and cousin, who had
been there once before. Our goal was to get to know the street children on a personal level, so as to learn what they really
need. There is no way I could have prepared myself for what I was about to experience. Before I tell
my story, I will give you a little background on myself and my traveling companions. First and foremost is my "mama",
this is what my grandma has us call her. She is unconventional/ unique/ different than most grandparents. She is a college
professor at Marist College in poughkeepsie N.Y., but she still lives in Binghamton, driving the three hour trip back home
every weekend to spend time with her grandchildren and her children. She teaches world views and Values, Ethics, and Religious
studies, so needless to say, she has strong political, religous, and social beliefs/ values/ views. She is certain that Obama
is the best thing thats happened to this country since Civil Rights. She is also on the board of directors for International
Philosophers for Peace and Prevention on Nuclear Omnicide, and organization which works all around the globe to aid the poor
and prevent violence. It was through IPPNO that she was able to travel to India in 2005, The organization was having an annual
conference and had offered to pay my Mama's trip expenses if she would attend. This was the same opportunity she offered to
my brother and cousin that year, and they eagerly accepted. So they left for two weeks, and in that time established sincere
relationships with the inhabitants of a dump across the street from their hotel, called the Shree Durga. When they returned,
however they did not have a way to maintain contact with the people, because it's not like they had cell phones, most of them
didn't even have shoes. My brother, Josiah Eck, and my Cousin, Colin Larnerd, went on the trip again, this time with me. They
offered me tips and advice to prepare for the trip beforehand, but they were most valuable with their street smarts in the
city, having already learned how to manage on their first trip. I learned how to act and what to do watching them barter with
the innumerable street merchants,communicating with locals, and even crossing the street.(which was harder than you'd think)
Two other people accompanied our group, they were also from Marist College. Jamie Williams, a woman in her mid twenties with
short cropped black hair and square, black rimmed glasses, was the campus minister at Marist and a good friend of my Mama.
She is a filmmaker, and in addition to helping the poor, she was filming a documentary on single mothers raising children
on the streets. Diya Wadhwa , a woman born and raised in India, was one of of my Mama's students who spoke fluent Bengali,
the dominant language in Calcutta, as well as English. She came along as our translator mainly, but she was always eager to
help in anyway she could. So that was our little group, six people from sixteen to seventy, bent on changing the world for
the better. For me, the experience started long before our plane touched down in
July of '07, my mama had been granted a sabbatical to focus on her "Praxis Project". The children of that dump in
Calcutta were the basis of the entire project, so she definitely intended to go back. This time, however, the trip would not
be an all-expenses paid weeklong visit, instead, we would be in the heart of the city for a full month during the height of
summer, and, of course, we had to earn every cent that it would cost.
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