I live on the second floor of the daycare, called the Baby Care Center. It is situated in a quiet neighborhood, where small apartment buildings and mango trees block the sounds of the roads. Vendors walk the streets during the evenings, chanting about their wares and pushing their carts. Each morning a bus leaves promptly at 7am from in front of the building and drives to the slums where mothers wait to set their children on the narrow benches. Winding through the packed streets of Kolkata, the students sing Jesus Loves Me and wave at the cows we pass. Our first stop is at Hatibagan Mobile School, where the older children pour through the gate and head for the outdoor spigots where teachers stand with smiles and soap bars. The smallest children stay on the bus as we head for the Baby Care Center.
They know the routine perfectly and wait patiently for the women to undress them before walking outside to the spigot and large red bucket. Soon, they are covered in soap and tiny wet footprints cover the floor as they are dried and dressed. Four women work here everyday, teaching English songs, mending cuts and bruises, making meals and showing the love of Jesus to each child. After song and Bible time, the children are prayed for and given breakfast. Free play is next and tiny voices and laughter radiate through the building. The older toddlers head to the classroom after an hour to practice their ABC’s before lunch and nap time. During nap, all twenty children lie side by side under the fans, tiny arms outstretched, heads propped up on small red pillows. One or two workers patiently sit and wave away any flies that settle on the children.
They wake up to snack and song time where they are redressed in their original cloths, which were laundered while they slept. Between three and four, the children are carefully placed on the bus and the journey back to their homes begins. Most of them nod off on the drive. The chaos of the traffic effects them little. At the bus stop, their mothers wait in a group and wave goodbye as we pull away. Tomorrow, these amazing workers will do it all over again. Tomorrow, they will sing, treat wounds and fevers, feed, and wash each precious child with care and joy.
The workers of GNCEM look like Jesus in this city.