When Randy Lavallee, his wife Irene and their son Chad went to India between Feb. 7 and 23 it was a journey to the unknown. The Barrhead family had never been to the sub-continent, nor had they met Kunal, the Indian boy they had been sponsoring through Mission of Mercy. Here is the story of their Indian adventure.
Tension was rising amid reports Indian militants were planning an attack. Three white people on a train would have been an obvious, even irresistible, target.
White equals money and in a land where so many struggle to survive, rummaging through rubbish to see what can be salvaged, sometimes with rats, dogs or cows for company, money can drive people to desperate acts.
The possible scenarios were horrendous: shootouts, robbery, hostage crisis, kidnapping, ransom demands …
The Indian authorities were getting edgy, so too the Mission of Mercy, the child sponsorship organization that helps to meet the physical and spiritual needs of children in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Maybe the simplest solution was to stop the Barrhead family from boarding the train.
It was a worrying time for Randy Lavallee, his wife Irene and their 16-year-old son Chad.
Their journey to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) did not begin when they flew from Edmonton. It originated in their hearts 11 years ago after they started sponsoring Kunal Murajee through Mission of Mercy, sending $35 a month to pay for schooling, clothing and other necessities.
Although pictures of Kunal adorn their fridge and they followed his transition from a five-year-old to a teenager, there is no substitute for meeting someone face to face, especially if that someone has become like a family member.
If the train trip was cancelled, how else would they get to Kunal’s village of Purulia? Meeting Kunal was the purpose of flying thousands of miles. Marvelling at the sights of New Delhi and seeing Agra’s Taj Mahal were wonderful extras.
Finally the decision was made: the family could board the train, but guards armed with AK-47s would protect passengers from possible attack. Settled into their seats, the Lavallees breathed a sigh of relief as the train left the West Bengal capital.
It was a city where they had spent a couple of nights at a guesthouse in the heart of the slums. They had walked narrow, traffic-choked, noisy streets aligned by gutters strewn with human waste and garbage reeking in humid temperatures of up to 30 C. They had seen goats and heard packs of dogs running through streets at night, probably hunting rats. They had seen humans scavenge among garbage, always with an eye for saleable items. They had seen lepers missing limbs and blind people hoping for handouts.
They had come across saucer-eyed street children in dirty clothes, holding begging bowls. Could even the flintiest heart have withstood such entreaties?
And they had seen the other world within: prosperous looking people, businessmen perhaps, or policemen, smartly dressed, limbs plump, skin radiant with good health, walking or driving by the filth without a second glance.
Yes, it had been an incredible introduction to India, to a city synonymous with the legendary Catholic nun Mother Teresa, whose mission and gravesite-shrine they visited. It had made them thankful for all the blessings of living in Canada.
Now, however, as they looked through the train window and saw a changing landscape of rice fields and villages full of grass huts and tin shacks, a different experience awaited.
Excitement built up as they thought of Kunal, the boy whose destiny became entwined with theirs during an Edmonton conference. They knew roughly what he looked like. But what would he be like? He was 16: many teenagers go through awkward phases. Would Kunal be introverted or outgoing?
Well, they would soon find out. Five hours after leaving Kolkata the train crawled into Purulia, a village of 20,000 people. As in Kolkata, the mission had booked them into a guesthouse and provided transport with a driver. The meeting took place at Kunal’s mission-run school of 600 sponsored students.
“We were so excited – we had waited 11 years for this,” said Randy Lavallee last week. “It felt almost unreal. Kunal came in, bent down, kissed our feet and touched his heart. It was a humbling experience. Irene started crying and I felt really emotional.
“Kunal was emotional too, and you could tell he was overjoyed. He was smiling all the time.”
The Lavallees responded with hugs.
Several first impressions struck Randy. Kunal looked healthy – the school fed him a daily meal to supplement the food he was getting at home. About 5 ft. 8 in. tall, he had outgrown his school jacket; the sleeves ended half way up his forearms. He spoke excellent English. In fact, he spoke almost too quickly, perhaps through nerves or excitement. And he had a wonderfully outgoing personality.
“You can only read so much into words and photographs,” said Randy. “You get hints, but can never be certain.”
The Lavallees came bearing small gifts, including a soccer ball – to Indians a football. It was something Kunal could kick around on the school sports field, which was a dirt patch in the dry season.
The Lavallees had a chance to tour the school.
They learned that Kunal was studying hard and already had a career in mind: banking.
“School is taken very seriously there,” said Randy. “Students also get taught the gospel and have morning devotion and prayers.”
By Canadian standards, Kunal’s school is poorly equipped, relying largely on blackboards and chalk.
“They have four or five computers,” said Randy.
The Lavallees also visited Kunal’s home, a small concrete property, where he lives with his parents and elder brother. When they arrived his father, a mechanic, was at work.
“His mother served us Chai tea and we sat on chairs and talked,” said Randy. “We saw Kunal’s bedroom. It is fairly plain, with just a bed.”
Although Kunal is without the gadgetry that accompanies adolescence in the West, his family does own a television and cell phone. To get to school, Kunal uses a cycle, the favoured form of transport in Purulia. As they toured Purulia, the Lavallees attracted attention as many residents had never seen white people.
“The children looked so innocent and just wanted to be near us, shake our hands and get in the pictures,” said Randy.
For the Lavallee family going to India to see Kunal was a blessing. “We would encourage everybody to sponsor a child,” said Randy. “What does it cost? Probably the price of a meal a month. We can all afford that.”
