About the Pilgrim
ALFRED STEVEN GREENBERG
"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
Mother Theresa
Calcutta, India
INDIA- BANGLADESH- NEPAL- AFGHANISTAN
Once George Harrison’s concert for Bangladesh alerted me to the plight of the Bangladeshi people, I immediately purposed in my heart to go there and help out in some way. After hearing George Harrison’s song for Bangladesh, I set off at the age of 17 with the Bangladesh vision burning in my heart.
It was the early 1970’s. Thousands of western hippies were migrating eastward in search of spiritual truth. Albeit dangerous,Beginning in Europe, I took the overland route to India which led me though the treacherous Khyber Pass and on into Afghanistan. Warmed by the friendliness and hospitality of the Afghani people, I spent a few months in Kabul before heading south to Goa, a tropical paradise on the southestern coast of India.
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All along the road east I teamed up with others to open halfway houses feeding and housing western youth strung out from Kabul to Calcutta. It was the early 1970’s when thousands of western hippies fed up with the madness and materialism the west had offered them, were migrating eastward in search of spiritual truth.
However, sadly, many wound up on drugs, sick and desolate. Like them, I too had been in a similar situation early on in my journey. I wanted to do something to pass on the gift that had been given me.
The Indian Subcontinent became my home for more than a decade. I was not just a traveler. I became a pilgrim, living for for extensive periods of time in those countries, totally immersing myself in their cultures and learning their language. My sojourn encompassed 5 years in India, 5 years in Bangladesh, 2 years in Nepal and a few months in Afghanistan.
The exotic atmosphere of the Indian Subcontinent enlivens the senses and transports you to a different dimension. Her people are warm and hospitable. Her incomparable natural beauty stretches from the peaks of the Himalayas to the tropical beaches of Goa.
Thousands of western migrants seeking a spiritual home were embraced by the kind Indian masses who welcomed us each step along the road.After India I made my home in Nepal for a few years before traveling east through India to the massive city of Calcutta.
It was at that time I first met and worked with Mother Teresa who had just begun the Missionaries of Charity. I worked alongside them in the slums of Calcutta, comforting patients in the Home for the Dying.After spending a considerable amount of time in Calcutta I finally crossed the border into Bangladesh at a time when they were just recovering from a bloody liberation struggle.
TUNISA - JORDAN - EGYPT
After a decade back in the US raising my children, I took off for the Middle East. I took an exploratory trip to Tunisia for some months, then returned back to the US. I then took off for Egypt. Egypt, with its vibrant spitiual energy and open hearted people, was the perfect place to pause and reflect in my life, a place to allow an inner healing to take place.I arrived mere months before a revolution erupted. I unexpectedly became bonded to the Egyptian people and over time, decided to make my home here.I have since spent most of the last decade there.
OVERLAND ROUTE TO INDIA:
ITALY-GREECE-TURKEY-IRAN-AFGHANISTAN -PAKISTAN-INDIA - 5 YEARS
NEPAL - 2 YEARS
BANGLADESH - 5 YEARS
EUROPE- HOLLAND- BELGIUM- FRANCE - 10 YEARS
USA - 11 YEARS
ON INTO THE MIDDLE EAST….TUNISIA - 6 MONTHS
EGYPT - 10 YEARS
OTHER COUNTRIES VISITED: PANAMA, COLOMBIA, BRAZIL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, FRANCE