Home Visit

Yesterday, after observing the operation at the hospital, we were taken back to the guest house to get ready for dinner at Stephen's house. Seven of us went by van and three others went by auto-rickshaw. On the way, Joelle had us stop at a bakery to pick up a cake to give to Stephen's family. We were very hot as we sat crowded in the van waiting at the bakery for Joelle to pick up the cake. However, we were soon on our way to Stephen's house. We found out that for Stephen to get to our guesthouse, he has to walk, take an auto-rickshaw and a bus. Neither Stephen or his wife drive. Stephen has very bad cataracts and his vision is very poor.

At Stephen's house, we met his mother, father, and sister. Also there were his brother, "little Stephen" and little Stephen's wife and small boy. Our Stephen, his wife Sheeba, their small boy Roshan, Stephen's mother, father, and sister all live in the same house. Little Stephen, his wife, and boy live in a neighboring house, but come to Stephen's parents' house for meals. At the house, we were fed huge amounts of Indian food. They served our plates before handing them to us and the food was overflowing. It was delicious, but impossible to eat it all. While waiting for our food, we were shown photographs of the family. Everyone in the family seemed genuinely pleased to see us.

After dinner, we walked down the street to see Stephen's aunt's house. It turned out the Stephen's aunt was our very own cook at the guesthouse, Reva. We were able to say hello to Reva and to her two daughters. After that, we walked to little Stephen's house before leaving to go back to the guest house. The houses are plain and have minimal furniture, but are very clean on the inside, in contrast to all the trash that is found outside on the street.

After driving back to the guest house we found out that our neighborhood was experiencing a power outage. Fortunately, a few of us had brought flashlights. With nothing else to do without power, most of us turned in early.