HONAVAR, India.
Thirteen young people from different parts of Spain landed in Mumbai, India, on July 27 to start a fieldwork camp in Honavar, for 3 weeks at SARPI Center. This was organized by EDIW (Education for an Interdependent Work) and Inés Carbajal accompanied the volunteers. They share their story.
Thirteen young people from different parts of Spain landed in Mumbai, India, on July 27 to start a fieldwork camp in Honavar, for 3 weeks, organized by EDIW. These volunteers, university students and some who are already working professionals, arrived in India full of energy, expectations, and dreams ... At the end of the experience we can confirm that the dreams and expectations were well fulfilled and even surpassed. The rich work experience, the exchange and sharing, the welcome received, meeting people with different customs, communicating in unknown languages, interacting with many people from different cultures and religions, and reaching out to the hearts of many will be a unique experience we will always cherish. Also, we bring in our hearts the faces, names, lives, and names of many who have touched our lives.
A youth fieldwork camp is a short-term volunteer experience (less than a month) which in many cases, such as ours, is done in group and accompanied by one or more facilitators.
This experience took place in Honavar, state of Karnataka, at the SARPI Center, an NGO directed by the Teresian Association for more than 35 years. In the morning, we did our work in the different projects: nursery schools, mobile library, special education school, and stitching project. In the afternoons we taught English and computer classes to groups of children, youth, and adults; and at sunset and before dinner we received practical classes on various cultural aspects of India: the local language Kannada, classical Indian dance: Barathnatyam, Bolliwood dance, yoga, mehendi, and meditation. The weekends were also moments for action and relaxation: excursions to beaches and temples, assistance to a Hindu wedding, shopping at the market, boat rides on Sarashvati river, cricket and volleyball matches with the youth from Pedro Poveda parish... Even though there were 17 of us, a quite large number to move by vehicle or rickshaws, we were invited by several families to have lunch or dinner at their homes... It is important to mention that we lived and felt like a family and all of us always went together everywhere …
This experience has helped us learn and develop different competences or personal skills like intercultural communication, capacity to plan and organize, teamwork, leadership, self-management, and emotional intelligence.
The last days were memorable moments for everyone, full of gestures and symbolic events, such as farewell celebrations in the different projects and the final party at SARPI with all the children and participants in all the activities, with whom we exchanged souvenirs, gifts, photos, written expressions, and words of love and friendship ...
How difficult the departure was!! And how huge the gratitude!!.
We all know that this experience has marked our lives forever and has taught us to live ... We are no longer the same persons!! We encourage everyone to participate in experiences like this that help change the world a little, but change ourselves a lot!.
Team of volunteers