A YEAR TO

REMEMBER.Written by Amy Dingler

THE UNC GAP YEARFELLOWSHIP

My year began on a normal day in May 2011 when I got a call from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They told me I won a scholarship. The fellowship gave students money to take a service-based gap year after high school to better prepare them for college.

I was one of five students selected for the scholarship. We all came from different

backgrounds but we had the same question to answer – If you could go anywhere in the

world and volunteer for a year, where would you go?

I DECIDED TO STARTWITH

INDIA

I left home September 4, 2011 and signed up to volunteer at the Missionaries of Charity office in

Kolkata, India on a Wednesday afternoon.

MOTHER

TERESA

In Kolkata I volunteered in a hospice for the sick, destitute, and dying called “Kalighat.” The center was the first home opened by Mother Teresa in 1952. I spent three and a half weeks volunteering with amazing people who come to help for a few days and sometimes stay for a lifetime.

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

― Mother Teresa

Here are a collection of photos and media from my volunteer work in Kolkata…

This is the view from the roof of Kalighat where volunteers hang the hand-washed clothes. The center is located in the heart of a very poor slum.

Every morning I would take a 20 minute bus ride with other volunteers toKalighat. This is a three minute video of the walk from the bus stop to the entrance of the center. It will give you a good idea of the poverty in India and the kind of things I saw on a daily basis. Click to play.

This video was taken after my stay in India when I was reflecting on myexperience with a special patient in Kalighat named Soni. Click to play.

In this photo I am helping Soni with her daily exercises.

So what did I learn from volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity? I’m not entirely sure, but I know that I received much more than I gave.“ ”- quote from blog

When I left Kolkata on September 28th I traveled to the state of Haryana to volunteer in a small

village with a great cause.

IT’S CALLED

THEDADAWAS

INITIATIVE

The initiative was started by Sagar Jain, a retired public health professor from UNC, and his wife, Sheela. In the winter of their lives they sacrificed their comforts in

America and moved to Dadawas village.

Here are some photos from the village…