A Land of Contradictions. A girl of the unexpected

Most first years take a gap year and travel through Europe before going to University. This was true of Franci Williams but unlike the normal living in an apartment in England; Franci chose to go to Calcutta, India to volunteer at Mother Theresa’s foundation ‘The Missionaries of Charity’.
With her long blonde hair and traditional cream linen pants bought in India, Franci looks like she’s just stepped out of the Calcuttan heat. She sits down, automatically curling her arms around her knees and radiating a peace and ease when relating her story which according to her really isn’t that interesting. Arms curled around her knees and her bare feet kneading the grass looking content, Franci explains that she really didn’t plan to go to India. In fact only after writing to the sisters at the mission and after the December holidays did she decide to go. “I was pretty much humming and haring about going. Only when January came did she decide to go. “I really just went on my gut not knowing really what to expect. Literally I had no idea what I was going to be doing; whether I would be working in orphanages, was I going or be giving injections to random people? I had no expectations what so ever”, she laughs through her brown eyes when realising how unassuming and innocent she’d been beforehand. “I was completely confident back then. I have no idea where the confidence came from” she says with a smile. Her brow suddenly furrows and her voice deepens when saying, “I think that God was calling me there and I think that’s the reason I went because when I was there I really didn’t know why I was there. I couldn’t even piece together how I managed to get there because it was so like...,” she pauses, “One day I was going and the next I wasn’t."

Franci’s brown eyes gaze intensely at the grass when explaining that instead of giving injections to orphans she was ministering to some of the poorest people in Calcutta who had been rejected by society. “The people weren’t necessarily materially poor but spiritually poor as well,” Franci says soberly. She continues that initially she had no real attachment to Mother Theresa but, “After experiencing and living the kind of life she lived, my mind just boggles. That a person can just have so much love it’s amazing. Definitely now, when I think of her she’s like one of my wow kind of people, Franci smiles broadly, emphasising the wow with broad hand gestures and eyes aflame.
Franci relaxes and gently fingers the grass while flexing her toes when she explains that her experience in a lot of ways confirmed the type of person she wanted to be. “Before I went I used to be really cynical about the world and humanity. But after meeting so many people who really care about humanity; I was like how do you love like that?” she asks shaking her head. "It was refreshing because I came back knowing the type person I wanted to be," she continues quietly.

The leap from the busy streets of Calcutta back home to the quiet suburbs of Grahamstown was quite an adjustment for Franci. “In India the people are very special. Strangers greet you with openness and trust”, she says fondly. I find South African people, who have so much money, tend to be very bitter and resentful. Whereas a person in India can only have a plastic packet and half a bag of rice and they’ll be willing to share it with you”, she explains defiantly with arms in the air. Franci also found it hard to adjust to her academic work which according to her, “It just felt so trivial to have to explain the difference between Modernism and Post-Modernism when there are people dying.” My experience has definitely made me question my degree. Maybe the type of education I want is a more holistic one.” Franci stares into the trees wistfully saying, “My heart still feels like it’s in India at times but I’m here now to get an education. Hopefully, one day I’ll go back.”