|
Gold Award expedition to India October 2007 Hannah Bolt, Year 12, describes their experience. “Over one year’s worth of preparation was over! On the 17th October, I was one of 29 sixth formers from St. Margaret’s School, Exeter, boarding a plane bound for Cochin in Southern India. Our aim was to complete a gruelling trek as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award and to undertake charitable work in a children’s home, with which our school has been linked for 20 years. For a year prior to travelling to India we raised money for the charity that we were going to visit, the Goodwill Children’s Home in Tamil Nadu. By organising activities and events, we collected over £15,000 for the orphanage which will be used to build more accommodation for the older girls living there. For the children we also amassed clothes, sports equipment, and toothbrushes (as there is a large problem with tooth decay in India). In total around 2,000 toothbrushes were donated and all of these had to be crammed into our suitcases! No amount of preparation could have readied me for the friendliness of the children at the Goodwill Village. They have so little and very few personal possessions, but they are so cheerful and were very grateful to receive small gifts, like a hair band. We taught for several days in their classes and their keenness to learn was touching. It was definitely an experience that will stay with me for a long time. While we were at the Goodwill Village we also visited the Tribal Outreach Programme, an organisation educating children from tribal villages, and we handed out clothes and toothbrushes. We visited several of these communities and the extreme contrast to the way we live in England shocked most of us, but what struck me even more was that the atmosphere in the villages was so positive and everyone made us feel so welcome, even though we felt like strangers interrupting their way of life. Our four day expedition was carried out in the Western Ghats Mountains, starting in a valley swathed in tea plantations, progressing to scaling the heights of the mountains, walking over Indian highland terrain, and then descending again onto the plains. The scenery was stunning, despite monsoon rains each and every evening. The mist draped over the mountain peaks in the mornings was spectacular and the isolation of the mountains was refreshing and so calm compared to life in the cities of India. Parts of the trek were very challenging, but the sense of achievement when we had finished was huge and it really allowed all of us to bond as a group. Before I went to India I was told by a few people that it would be a life changing experience. At the time I scoffed at them. Now I have returned, my perspectives on everyday life back at home have been changed. For example, I will never take clean water, straight from a tap, for granted again. The trek and especially our experiences at the Goodwill Village have definitely allowed me to grow as a person, gaining confidence and experiencing new sensations that very few people ever get to experience.” The Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards are a major part of life at St Margaret’s School. Significant numbers of girls achieve the Gold Award each year and the most recent group of Gold Award girls have just returned from India |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |