In this post, I am going to take this opportunity to blog about my experiences and journey in India 2015. I tried to search for more information about Malaysian travelling to India few months back and to my surprise it is very hard for me to find any blog entry or post about India on the net. Hence, I made a promise to myself that I am going to blog about it once I am back to my nation, Malaysia.
It's really fortunate that I am able to flew to India this year to participate in AIESEC Global Citizen Programme. I flew to New Delhi, India on the 12th July 2015 via Malaysia Airlines. The flight to Delhi from Kuala Lumpur International Airport takes about 5 hour and 30 minutes. Basically I slept all the time in the flight as it's a morning flight and I did not manage to get a a lot of rest on the night before. As soon as I landed at Delhi airport, I gotten myself a sim card at the airport. It is very sad that they charge a lot for the foreigner >.< I have to pay about 2200 Rupees (~ to 33 USD) for a local sim card with 2 GB of internet data. I insisted to get a local sim card to ease my communication purpose in India and instant internet access in India. I went out from airport and I am happy to meet another of my friend from Brazil Luísa Fancelli. She is one of the wonderful friend and partner that I made throughout my journey in India. We took a taxi from the airport to our accommodation in Kishangarh. I had a culture shock on the way to the accommodation looking at the street. I am surprised that Indian drove without following the rules and there is a honking culture all the time on the street. I could not get use to it at first but after that it seems pretty normal to me (although I still find it annoying some time). The honking culture does not apply in Delhi. It is pretty much the same everywhere around India to see this honking culture and you just have to get use to it.
Throughout this journey, I made a lot of new friends from different country, regions and parts of the world. Throughout this journey, I met amazing people from Egypt, Brazil, Mainland of China, Taiwan, Portugal, Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia, Latvia, Pakistan and many more. I feel amazed that all of us can interact with each another although there is a huge gap of cultural difference. Arguments and conflicts happen sometimes but I believe all of this can be resolve as long we understand each another.
Throughout this summer, I had chosen to work in a local NGO called CanKids KidsCan. CanKids KidsCan is a registered charitable National Society working to make a change for Childhood Cancer in India. It aims to identify and bridge the gaps to ensure best treatment, care and support to children with cancer, provide economic support to children who are lack of money, provide emotional and psychological support from diagnosis, and giving informal education to keep children in the habit of learning.
In a team of 4-5 people, we carried out the annual summer camp at the NGO. The summer camp was successful despite facing numerous challenges as the kids need to be at the hospital for treatment according to their schedule. However, this does not stop us from proceeding with the summer camp with the rest of the children who are in the shelter house or NGO.
The activities carried out during the summer camp at CanKids were :
1) Craft activities with the children
- We made decoration items such as fishes, birds, fans and decoration items from recycled materials. These items are now been used as decoration in CanKids Shelter House (Home Away From Home)
2) Games activities with the children at the shelter house and hospital while waiting for treatment.
3) Sandwich Day.
4) Fundraising by making Diwali cards for charity purposes in CanKids.
5) Outing at Deer Park by playing some outdoor games and simple exercises.
6) An educational visit with the children to The National Railway Museum.
7) Dessert day. We made one famous Brazilian Sweet named Brigadeiro.
8) Poem day.
9) English learning activities.
10) Fund Raising
- Fund raising was done among the project mates. We wanted to donate some of the educational toys & books to the children the shelter house before the project ends.
(The books & toys purchased for the shelter house!)
(Me and the rest of the team mates who are volunteering in CanKids as well)
Throughout this summer camp, my biggest key learning is I learned to be more responsible. Me and my team have to discuss everyday during the weekday to come out with a proper planning on what activities to be carry out so that it will not a mess by the day.
I also learned to be more independent while volunteering in CanKids as we have to travel on our own by public transport and not relying on others. I am also more appreciative to people around me.
I learned the values of community service and the social impact created during the summer camp. Although the kids are diagnosed with cancer, the kids and their parents are strong and does not gives up in their life. I will continue to join volunteering program in the near future again.
Besides doing the work, I also took some day off to explore some beautiful places in India such as Manali, Agra and Varanasi and the main tourist attraction in Delhi~ We mainly went travelling during the weekend which project is not carried out at that time.
(Me and my team mates at Manali)
(It's really nice to be able to travel to Varanasi and witness the Ganges River in front of you, Definitely worth going while you are in India!)
(Me and the rest of the exchange participants at Taj Mahal, Agra one of the 7 wonders of the world~)
It's really worthwhile to visit India at least once in your life and I am sure you will not regret it. There might be a huge culture shock when you visit India but this experience is definitely worth trying for! I did not regret to visit India this year and it had been the best memory for me so far. If you have the chance, take a brave step to go out from your comfort zone and experience the journey that you will not regret in your life! All the best :)
I managed to create a short summary of my journey in India. You can have a look at it~ :)
I managed to create a short summary of my journey in India. You can have a look at it~ :)
