Nine's CAS Diary: (15-10-10 to 25-10-10) India Trip

Because we have a separate question sheet for the India Trip, I won't really talk about it here unless I feel there is something I need to include after I fill it in. I will probably update this post with the question sheet as well.

Here are some pictures, I might add more later or even a few videos if I figure out how to do that.

[Update] The questions:

DESCRIBE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF THE TRIP.

I expected to go to a few different orphanages and visit these more than once to bond with the children there. I also expected to see a lot of the different faces of Mumbai, especially the various slums in contrast to the rich districts.

I expected to get to know all the people on the trip better, because some of them I had never spoken to before. I also expected to deepen my friendships with my friends who came as well, because we would be closer than ever before.

Because I stayed at my mother’s Indian friend’s house, and my mother joined us after two days, I also expected to get to know my host (who is my sister’s godmother and one of my mother’s best friends) and her family better, as she has a daughter in 7^th grade whom I had seen twice before. That is why the trip was also very personal to me, as I had been looking forward to being with my mother’s lifelong friend.

Of course, I also expected this trip to be lots of fun, the CAS parts and the other parts, hanging out with my friends and my mother’s “Indian sister”, hiking and camping with everyone…

DID THE ACTUAL TRIP CORRESPOND TO THESE EXPECTATIONS ?

COMMENT.

Some expectations were met, but not all. For example, I got to talk at least once to the people I had never talked to before and really got to know some people much better, both in positive and negative ways (as they say, traveling with people makes you see sides of them you had never seen before…). I got to spend a lot of time with Sana, Chelcie and Chuck when we were in the bus, which I appreciated because we don’t have many classes together. And of course, I had lots of fun during the trip!

I also saw the connection my mother and her friend had, which is quite an amazing one actually. They are so alike that it drives her daughter and me crazy! But she is so kind and generous, I was extremely grateful to be housed by her.

Although we did visit an orphanage (but didn’t do much there), I think visiting it at least a second time would have made much more sense and would have had much more meaning to it. We did have a free day though, on which we were encouraged to go back on our own, but Katie (whom I housed) and I were depending on Ayush to take us there. Unfortunately, he and the people he housed ended up not going, so we couldn’t go either. I regret this immensely and I think it’s such a shame that I couldn’t go again. I can see children once, remember a few of their faces thanks to pictures but forget them soon. And I don’t think that’s what CAS is about. Seeing them again, and not with the entire group, would have been much more personal and would have touched me more as I could have spent some time with the children individually. I’m sure that when I go back to

India

some day (which I definitely will, because I was charmed by the country) that I will return to the orphanage, even if I’m done with the IB and don’t need CAS points anymore.

GIVE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS CAS ACTIVITIES YOU DID DURING THE TRIP AND EXPLAIN WHY THESE ACTIVITIES WERE MEANINGFUL TO YOU.

For service, I suppose raising money for Vatsalya orphanage counts. This was thanks to a bakesale, Sana’s self-made bracelets and some donations. The main activity was goint to the orphanage, where we first watched the children getting a capoeira lesson. I really enjoyed watching the teachers making music with berimbaus and singing, because I have no feel for rhythm at all so I was amazed by their musical as well as dance and fighting talents. It was of course also interesting to watch the lesson, secretly wanting to try it out too. After a while the teachers told us to join them in a big circle, where we were encouraged to clap and sing with the children (I had some trouble with clapping at the right beats as well as singing in another language at the same time, but I noticed I wasn’t the only one). I also had fun discerning Hindi from Portuguese (I believe), because the teachers were speaking both. For example, they counted in Portuguese but sang certain songs in Hindi.

Then we went inside and watched a video about the orphanage, which was of course interesting but not really a “CAS activity”. Then some of the children danced for us on a mix of songs, which they did extremely well and seemed to enjoy much, which was a nice sight. All the children there seemed so content with what they had; all of their eyes were sparkling whereas people here have dull eyes. Then they wanted us to dance for them, and Pim did a few dance moves and we all started mingling and bonding for short moments with a few children. I remember communicating with them, just using our eyes and bodies and a few basic English words. After this, some of the guys went to play football with some of the children (but I did not know this until later), while others, including me, just took pictures of each other with children, children alone or ourselves with children. They absolutely loved this! They really enjoyed posing for all the cameras. Although I think we could have done a more interesting activity with them, if they enjoyed it then it’s good.

Another service activity we did was entertaining a class of 6-8 year old children in Igatpuri. We were divided in three groups for three classes for this, and I was with Sana, Chelcie, Chuck, Shaina, Rajal and Esha. We played some games with them, games they didn’t know so they were happy I think, and also taught them a song called “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” (I didn’t know it, though…) by pointing at our body parts, teaching them some English. The most interesting part of this for me was that I kind of connected with one of the girls. The day before, we had eaten in small groups in the nearby village, and I had eaten at a house where that girl lived. Interestingly, she and I looked at each other (which intimidated her slightly and made her giggle) various times during the meal and after. The next morning, when we were being separated into groups, we saw each other again as some students were walking towards the school, which made her hide a bit behind her friend, giggling. And yes, it is in her classroom that I ended up. That is why her memory shall remain somewhere in my head forever, because our eyes met so often even though we didn’t speak a word to each other.

We also did some action, as we had a hike that took about 3 hours. I got to see different sides of all the people in the group (those who complain, those who stay at the front, those who smile during the entire time, those who make jokes, those we appreciate the view…). I didn’t have much trouble with the hike because my parents made my siblings and I do this a few times before, and I love nature a lot so enjoyed it very much. The only problem is that my white shoes became completely brown, as they hadn’t told us that we going to hike and therefore I did not listen to my mother who told me to bring my hiking shoes (because they take lots of space and we could only take a small backpack). I do not mind very much, though, and only have good memories of the hike. That may be because I did not slip, like some of the others. Also, I was able to go to the front and not be stuck between people on narrow and muddy paths. Being in the front was also and advantage because when it started raining, I could run with a few others and a guide towards the camping and get there as fast as possible. I did not mind running in the rain though, it felt extremely nice, to be honest. Until we came back and I caught a cold, but that’s another story.

Apparently the following activities also count for CAS; going to Elephanta island (creativity), water sports at Aamby valley (action), visiting the Lilavati hospital (service), going to the Dharavi slums (creativity) and going to the NCPA to watch a play (creativity). Additionally, the orphanage is not only service but also creativity and the two camping days had all three CAS components. Nevertheless, the activities described above were the ones that were the most important to me for CAS.

DESCRIBE YOUR HIGHLIGHT OF THIS TRIP.

The highlight of this trip is hard to choose, but I guess it’s when noticed the happiness in orphan’s eyes. My mother had told me about people’s eyes in

India

gleaming and full of life, whether they are poor or rich, and that I would be shocked by the grey and bored eyes here in

Belgium

. It’s not coming back to

Belgium

that made me realize how alive their eyes were, it was really while they were dancing for us and playing with us that their eyes just spoke to me. Interestingly, since then I pay much more attention to people’s eyes, because they tell so much. I’ve heard that eyes are windows to the soul, and in

India

I’ve seen that these orphans appreciate everything they have and are unconditionally happy. I can really remember being struck by all those smiling eyes… I will never forget that.

HOW HAS THIS TRIP HELP YOU TO FULFILL THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE CAS PROGRAM ?

Making these children, the orphans and the villagers from Igatpuri, happy, is an extremely satisfying act to me. Although it is easy to please and entertain children, it is not done enough at all. I do not think it deserves much praise as making children’s days brighter must be a normal and straightforward thing to do, but it is a beautiful thing to do nevertheless. It counts for service because we really do a service to them, but it should be more normal for us than just something we do for CAS once in a while.

The hike was very intense and made us all sweat out liters, and that’s why I believe it is action. I also made me aware of another way of doing action, as I do not practice much sport but do not mind hiking, which is more intense than some other sports.

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THIS TRIP TO OTHER STUDENTS ?

Although the trip left me with some disappointment, I would recommend it because it really offered me many new experiences which I have learned from. I bonded with the group as well as with random children, which is in my eyes always a beautiful event. I have also seen the huge contrasts between the poverty and the opulence in

India

. The part that shocked me the most was seeing those two opposite ends of society right next to each other, everywhere. People, buildings, foods… It really opened my eyes and I think it is good for everyone to be confronted by these contrasts.