Hello to the all the families at home. Today we moved on from construction and started preparing for our health and eye care camp. We began by setting up the health care site at Rajgadh public middle school. Half of the group went to campaign our camp in local villages whilst the other half set up tents and tables at the site.
The village was an eye opening and breath taking experience for many of us. We drove through narrow forest roads passing buffalos and farms to reach the surrounding villages. From hopping off the bus, we split into groups with Hindi and non-Hindi speaking students to inform as many people as possible about the camp. Everyone learnt a few Hindi phrases such as “Kal health camp hai” (there’s a health camp tomorrow) and “Dus se char baje tak” (From ten am to four pm). The villagers spoke local dialects which is different variations of the Hindi language, but we managed to overcome the communication barrier through passing out flyers and getting help from locals who have worked in other projects at the village.
First impressions of the village was noticing the different architectural styles of the people’s homes compared to ours. The space was filled with bright beautiful colours and welcoming gates, exposing us to the cultural and colourful dynamics of Indian culture in the country side. Another difference was the presence of wildlife throughout the village, there were many buffalo’s and goats around the homes and we were constantly surprised by the cows freedom to roam around the community. The village was a goat farming village with many of the villagers being goat herders. There was a constant baaahing from baby goats around mixing with the smells of Indian spices from the kitchen.
We saw many children running through the school curiously looking at what mystery project we were up to. We got an insight into the daily life of an Indian student at a public school. We were surprised to hear the looming science exam many of the students in years much younger than us had to face as well as how they navigate their lunch times with students washing their own dishes after lunch.
We are really excited to participate in the running of the health camp on Sunday, even more so after practicing and running through each station and roles of the day. Stay tuned for tomorrow…
Disha, Molly, India, Keshav, Gracie, Enzo, Jakob, Vashisht, Ollie, Hamish, Nirvaan, Felix, Aleena, Ngina
