Area grad walks in footsteps of saint

CELINA - Long inspired by Mother Teresa, a young man from St. Henry sought to walk in the saint's footsteps this summer by embarking on a seven-week missionary trip to Calcutta, India.

During his trip, Ben Buening was able to carry out Mother Teresa's call to do ordinary things with great love while tending to the sick and dying in what he called a truly humbling experience.

"Even though the people of Calcutta, India, one of the poorest cities in the world, lack financial stability, they are still the same as you and me, always seeking meaning in life and seeking their purpose," Buening told Celina Rotarians on Tuesday afternoon.

Buening, a senior at Wright State University-Lake Campus majoring in middle-childhood education, said he knew this would be the last summer he would have to take a long trip before pursuing a master's degree.

"I had this wild idea last fall and bought a plane ticket and away I went," Buening said. "I've been to Guatemala three times, and I've been to Haiti once, and I've always been inspired by Mother Teresa, and I've always wanted to walk in her footsteps."

Buening took the initiative, booking his flight and traveling overseas by himself to a country bursting at the seams with people. India has a population of 1.2 billion people compared with the United States' roughly 326 million people, he said.

"So when they say there is no personal space in India, there is no personal space in India," he said.

Volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, an order founded by Mother Teresa in 1950, Buening said he was assigned to the order's home for the dying and destitute.

Each day, he would care for the house's inhabitants in a variety of ways, which included feeding and bathing them, praying and playing games with them and doing their laundry, he said.

"It was a really humbling experience," he recalled. "It was a very peaceful place, and even though it's a lot of people that are nearing the end of life, it's a happy place. We sang. We danced."

One of the most beautiful experiences was realizing those near the end knew they wouldn't die alone, Buening said.

"They had someone there for them," he said. "They died with dignity."

Every morning Buening showed up at the house, and people would be camped outside, desperately wanting to gain entrance, he said.

"Unfortunately, the Missionaries of Charity can't help everyone," Buening noted. "So every morning they would take a car around the streets of Calcutta and around the slums with some other volunteers … and they would see who was in most need, and you never knew who'd walk through the door that day."

One indelible impression left on Buening's mind was a man who arrived in a wheelchair and had a bone sticking out of his leg.

"It looked like it was like that for several weeks. It was very infected," he said, adding he would say a little prayer each morning to be able to endure what he was about to witness that day.

During his seven-week stay, Buening saw many sights, including Mother Teresa's tomb, which the college student described as an awesome place to pray and offer up intentions. Each morning the tomb was decorated with fresh flowers.

"People from all over the world would come and visit Mother's tomb every day, and I had the opportunity of cleaning the area," he said.

He also visited a leper colony in the countryside.

"In India, if you have leprosy you're considered evil, you're considered cursed because you did something wrong in your past life," he said.

But at the colony, home to 230 or so lepers and their family members in a largely self-contained colony with school, farm and garden, lepers are treated with dignity, Buening said, calling his visit an amazing experience.

He pointed out that 95 percent of the world is impervious to leprosy because their immune systems will fight it off. The disease even has an antibiotic cure, but many people in third-world countries don't take action quickly enough and the disease becomes permanent, he said.

"I could shake their hands. I could give them a hug or whatever," he said.

Buening said he plans to perform more summer mission work.

"Whether that's creating a school group in high school ... or taking anyone who wants to go. I always like to say that if you can go on a mission trip, go on at least one, even if it's a domestic mission trip, go on at least one. It gives you a whole different perspective," he said.