During January, I took a two-week service trip to Kolkata, India. My trip gave me a chance to follow in the footsteps of one of the most phenomenal people to have made change in India, and specifically Kolkata, Mother Teresa.

Before I left for the trip I read a lot about her life, especially her quotes. And let me tell you, Mama T has some amazing quotes. You’ve probably heard some of them, but they’re all so simple. I think that’s why I enjoy them so much. She helps me remember even with all that goes wrong in the world, sometimes being a global citizen means taking even the smallest of steps.

So I compiled a list of some of my favorite quotes and favorite photos from the trip, to tell a story of my time there.

I can not find this saying any truer after witnessing such a diverse and exciting culture. I’m from the US, and we call ourselves the melting pot because we are a country that was started by immigration, so theoretically we have a lot of different cultures ingrained in our society. But I’ve never experienced such diverse culture as I did in India.

One of my favorite parts of the trip is how friendly Indian people were towards us. They were not afraid to include us in their circle of “family”. The children, like in this photo, would run up to us and immediately start exchanging names. They wanted to get to know us and we wanted to get to know them. Which brings me to the next quote…

One day, while we walked around the streets of Kolkata we came upon a flower market. (That’s where this photo was taken.) It was beautiful. The vibrant colors, strong smells, and busy people were overloading my senses, but in the best way possible.

It’s basically impossible for me to blend in, in India. I bought kurtas and scarves so that I could be culturally appropriate, but no matter what, I was a “Westerner” sticking out in the crowd. It doesn’t help of course that I haven’t seen the sunlight in months thanks to this frigid winter we’re having in New York, so my skin was especially pale during the trip.

Anyways, even though I got quite a few stares, they weren’t judgmental. I mean, okay, maybe a few were,but after getting to know the culture and the people, I imagine people looked more out of curiosity, the way I do when I can tell someone isn’t from the US. I think they were looking for the time to get to know us and understand us, and that’s something I wanted as well.

The Indian culture is so different from my own. Well, duh, right? But seriously, there was more of a difference than I could have ever imagined. I think it’s important to keep this quote as a mantra, because sometimes we might come across a person or a culture so different from us that we want to dismiss it, but then we could be missing out on so much.

The story behind this photo is one of my favorites and there’s no better quote to go with it. It might seem as though I’m saying that I’m doing a small thing with great love, but no, this little girl is the one that took the action. She ran up to me so suddenly and immediately introduced herself.

She had little scribbles all over her hands and I realized she was probably a lot like the student I was when I was little. I was always the doodler that would come home with ink all over my hands.

I loved finding that similarity because in reality there are so many things that stand between us. Age, culture, money, a bunch of countries, an ocean, etc. But in that moment we were friends talking about drawing on our hands. To me those moments of solidarity, no matter how small, are what push me to be a global citizen.

Yes, this is a photo of my arm. Might be a little strange to include in this list as one of my favorite photos on the trip, but it is. It was taken by a student with disabilities. I loved how he took my camera and so proudly put the strap around his neck (it’s one of those big cameras). He quickly figured out how to take that photo and loved it.

That’s why I chose this quote for this picture. Because sometimes it’s easy just to see people’s weaknesses and not their strengths. And I think a lot of people in the global north make this mistake when looking at developing countries . In the West, it might be easy to dismiss poorer countries because if their governments fail to sustain themselves that means they should be left out of the process, right? Nope. Wrong. This view is far too simplistic, and the majority of these countries are working hard to lift their people out of poverty. Sometimes it just takes the right tools to get there.

So when we’re thinking about people or governments, let’s remember to acknowledge what they’re capable of doing , and run with that.

If anyone could change the world alone, it was Mother Teresa. She improved the landscape of Kolkata and India drastically. But still, she shares this thought with us. I know that my trip to India didn’t change the world, but as a global citizen, I’m trying to make as many ripples as possible by taking actions that affect change.

Follow Mother Teresa’s footsteps with me and join Global Citizen!