A day at Mother Teresa’s Home for Destitutes

CAMIL PARKHE | Saturday, 3 September 2016 AT 09:04 PM IST

      

Mother Teresa, Home for Destitutes, Camil Parkhe

Sakal Times

Pimpri: The day begins quite early for the 80 inmates of Mother Teresa’s Home for Destitutes at Chinchwad. A nonagenarian inmate, Francis, rings the bell at 5 am and another day begins for the destitutes who are helped and cared by the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity who run the centre.
  
The inmates belong to various religions and a few of them join the nuns in the chapel in their morning prayers. All inmates then join for breakfast in the dining hall and those who are bedridden or unable to move, are offered the food at the bed in the dormitory.

Then, each of the inmates take up different assignments voluntarily, to assist the nuns in carrying out various chores at the home. “Most of these inmates love to volunteer themselves for various jobs like bringing the loaves of bread from the nearby bakery, working in the garden or helping the fellow inmates because these assignments provides them dignity,” says a sister.

“Often, the police or social workers approach us to pick up some old /sick person from the streets. This house caters only to male destitutes while our congregation centre at Tadiwala Road looks after women,” says the destitute home’s Superior Sr Jayakiran (MC). These people are treated and looked after and they are free to leave this centre whenever they wish, she says.
The sick and the destitute are provided cots at two spacious dormitories at the centre. Most of the inmates are senior citizens and in the event of their death, the nuns arrange their last rites as per their religion. The centre which was started in 1995 is located adjacent to St Andrew’s High School and Don Bosco IIT Institute. 

The Missionaries of Charity, also referred to as Mother Teresa nuns, also run a sewing class for poor girls and women. After attending to the needs of the inmates, these nuns also find time to visit the poor families in Pimpri Chinchwad. After assessing the needs of these families, they help them in various ways.

How do these nuns meet the food and other expenses of the 80 inmates? “The people in this locality are very generous and we are self-sufficient in meeting our all needs,” says Sr Jayakiran. There are people who offer daily or weekly meals, other offer meals to all inmates on the occasion of birthdays, anniversaries, some celebrations or during the period of Pitru Paksha. Significantly, majority of these donors are non-Christians. 

A general physician, a psychiatrist and an Ayurvedic practitioner visit the centre on a regular basis to offer treatment to the inmates for free. 

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