An open mind is the gateway for learning

July 16, 2009

I wrote an email to a friend and it turned into an expression of many things that I have learned this summer, so I thought I would share it on my blog:

“I finally feel proud of myself for what I am doing here and it feels pretty good. I am just happy to know that what I am doing is actually making a difference and affecting the people here.

I can't say India is one of my favorite places, but this summer sure has taught me a bunch of life lessons. All the kids on my program are very different and that makes our group as a whole very special. We have business men and engineers, and environmentalists and "energy" believers. Because of the variety of personalities in our group, I have learned to mold my mind to be more open to new people and new ideas.

One boy on my program taught me that the only way to be truly content is to have unconditional love for everything and everyone. At first I thought this was ridiculous because there are people that I just don’t like, and don’t think its worth my time to put up with them - but I have decided to try to find the best in every person so that my life is full of love instead of dislike and I hope that this recognition of kindness can spread to those around me. I think this is an easy decision for me to make here, where I am basically only exposed to the same 20 people everyday, but once I go back to LA this life style will be much harder to practice. I would love you to help me continue to live like this by not gossiping around me or pointing out negative aspects of people to me (not that you do this particularly, but it was definitely part of my lifestyle pre-summer).

I have also come to realize that the ego is a pointless part of humanity and once we rid ourselves of it then good deeds will be done for the sake of good deeds instead of for gaining credit for something. I learned that it really doesn’t matter how or who gets something done, as long as it gets done – this is what brings happiness into the world.”

Writing this email not only helped me express myself and verbalize what is going on in my head, but it also made me realize how much I am truly learning this summer. My experience this summer doesn’t have to do with just one thing or another – providing clean water to poor people or teaching young children about health and sanitation – but instead it has to do with the network of how everything fits together. The people I have met, the new culture I have been introduced to, the work I have done, and spirituality that I have experienced have coalesced to form one hell of a summer for me.

A Feeling of Accomplishment

July 11, 2009
Today is the first day that I feel truly proud of what I am doing here in Hubli.

The education program that I have been setting up for the past five weeks finally commenced today. We have 17 volunteers from The Women’s College that are split up into groups to teach at four different primary schools. This morning each of the groups went to their respective primary schools and spent an hour introducing themselves and playing games with the kids to get to know them before they start teaching the health and sanitation curriculum next Saturday. I went with one of the groups and sat in the back of the classroom and watched.


The children’s faces had huge smiles for the whole hour that the five volunteers were standing in front of the class. The volunteers asked the kids to tell jokes, what their favorite hobbies are and made sure that the kids were respectful (all in Kannada of course, but I could still understand what was going on). When it was over the volunteers told me that the kids didn’t want them to leave and that the kids said they would be waiting for them next Saturday. The volunteers were so delighted by their experience.

I took the bus back to the Women’s College with the girls and I ran into some of the other volunteers and asked them how their mornings went at the primary schools. Luxmi told me that she had a great time. Only half of her group showed up, but she was fine with that because it meant that she got to talk to the kids more. Sarala, a volunteer from another group, could not stop thanking me for setting her up with the primary school she was at. She said that the kids were so cute and she just wanted to pinch their cheeks. The head master of the school asked if she and her group would come teach a class everyday of the week for them! Sarala and her group were all smiles and could not stop raving about their morning.

Seeing all of these girls so happy to be helping kids that really need it just warmed my heart. The kids need these positive role models in their life to inspire them to go to college and to show them that learning can be fun. The lesson plans have lots of games and interactive activities so that the kids get really into it. I can’t wait to watch the volunteers begin teaching during my last few weeks here. I can tell that they are really going to make a different in these kids’ lives.