Walking With the Poor

Round Pizza in a Square Box

Excerpt from Chapter 7 – Walking With the Poor:

Mother Teresa

Growing up in Calcutta, I had the rare privilege of meeting Mother Teresa. She ran a network of nineteen charitable homes that cared for orphans, the mentally ill, lepers, and the dying. Cots, clean sheets, and running water simply outfitted each facility creating an unsophisticated yet functional home environment. Never did the Sisters who helped manage the homes turn away any person in need or charge for services.

Surrounding Mother Teresa’s work was an ongoing controversy about the quality of care afforded to her patients, especially those at the Homes for the Dying. Journalists from the Western medical press time and again reported poor living conditions, which included cold baths for patients, and a level of medical care that precluded modern diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, they complained of the homes’ shortage of doctors on one hand and too many volunteers lacking medical knowledge on the other.

I have always been intrigued by critics who sit in air-conditioned offices providing a spectator’s account of how work should be performed in third-world countries. It is easy to give expert advice on what more must be done and how someone else should do it without being there.

For those who sit and critique, how about actually going to the area of need and doing something, instead of simply writing or talking about it? Serving with the poor is much more than creating a power point, designing a neat brochure, flying business class to fundraisers, or staying in five-star hotels in third world countries. There is no better way to care for people than by walking alongside them.

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