From the Taj Mahal and Gandhi’s resting place to teaching students in the local community, students from Griffith University experienced the trip of a lifetime on a Community Internship trip to India
Community Internship
Griffith University
India
January 2020
Favourite part: Visiting the Taj Mahal and making some amazing new friends
Author: Lincoln Maitland-Smith
Where we went
Trip Itinerary
New Delhi
Agra, Northern India
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Travel Log
11th January 2020
After a total travel time of 25 hours travelling from Brisbane to Guangzhou to Delhi I finally arrived in Delhi with a cocktail of nervousness and excitement I made my way through customs, exchanged some money, bought an Indian sim card and met the first member of the team Rhi and our driver.
12th January 2020
When we woke to have our first team breakfast, we met Lucy and Sunday and we had a complete team. After breakfast we met with our local contact Sanjeev and set out to explore the part of the city known as New Delhi. New Delhi is the part of the city that was predominately built by the British when India was part of the British Empire and is home to some of Delhi’s most impressive landmarks.
After a jam-packed morning of sight-seeing we decided to partake in lunch at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib the largest Sikh temple in Delhi and home to a kitchen that serves over 10,000 free meals a day. A cornerstone of Sikh belief is a tradition known as “eating together” in which anyone regardless of religion, race, creed or status may eat a meal together for free, the scale of the operation was massive as we sat and ate with hundreds of other people in what was truly an awe-inspiring and humbling experience.
13th January 2020
We then ventured into the very heart of Delhi in an experience that can only be described as sensory overload, in the best possible way, in the narrow crowded streets of Central Delhi we saw thousands of people going about their daily lives all the while motorbikes and scooters whizzed through busy crowds. This was one of the first times I felt as though we got a raw and unapologetic view of what India was really like and we loved every second of it, finishing our tour with a traditional lunch of Parathas and Lassi and then returning home for some tea and some time to mentally digest the sights, sounds and smells that Delhi had to offer us.
We finished the day by visiting the site of Gandhi’s martyrdom, his home in the days leading up to his assassination. We followed Gandhi’s footsteps from his room to the garden and the exact spot where he was killed and learnt more about his story, from a young lawyer living in South Africa to the iconic humanitarian and pacifist that he is remembered for, which was a fitting way to end the day putting into context the influence Gandhi had on modern India, his teachings and philosophy’s are still felt all over the country and his impact has been sown into the very fabric of Indian identity. We then returned home for some dinner, some chocolate cake and some much-deserved rest.
14th January 2020
It was hard to sleep last night as we all knew what was in store for us today, getting to see one of the seven wonders of the world. We took a four hour drive to the city of Agra and during the walk to the monument we were given very specific instructions from our guide “don’t look until I say so”, filled with excitement that we could barely contain we walked into the courtyard of the palace until we were given the all clear to look and there it was - The Taj Mahal.
15th January 2020
Today we leave for Dehradun and got up before the sun to catch a train from Delhi to a town in the north called Haridwar. Haridwar is a very spiritual place for the Hindi people as it is one of the first towns that meet the river Ganges as it comes down from the mountains.
16th January 2020
Today was our first day in Dehradun, which will be our base camp for the next 14 days. We spent the morning driving up the mountain to a “Maggi point” where we had some noodles, chai and soaked in all the scenery that Dehradun had to offer.
18th January 2020
Another exciting day today especially for Holly, as today we were heading 6,000 feet above sea level, into the mountains up to a town called Mussoorie.
17th January 2020
We started the day by visiting the Purkal Youth Development Society, the school in which we were all going to be interning. We met with Navia, our contact at the school and further discussed our projects, preparations for the coming weeks and our daily schedule’s. With Sunday taking creative art workshops, Rhi and Holly working with the school nurse to develop a project centring around awareness of mental health and Lucy and I conducting career development workshops for the kids. The rest of the afternoon was free to plan lessons/projects.
21st January 2020
Today we travelled to the village of Bitali, a very rural village located further in the interior of the mountains. The terrain was difficult, so much so that we had to leave our car and finish most of the journey on foot.
25th January 2020
Today we visited Rishikesh the birthplace and world capital of yoga. Rishikesh is a spiritual hub not just in name and theory but in practise as well, the people were welcoming and kind and almost every interaction we had with the locals whether it was in passing or in one of the many shops and markets, were genuine and warm.
The impact we made
23rd-24th January 2020
Rhi and Holly were conducting mental health workshops with students from all year levels with the intention of raising awareness about mental health and how to promote healthy practises. They have also been working closely with the school nurse and had the opportunity to visit two of the local hospitals and talk with local doctors on the state of mental health awareness in the area and how to promote it in a culturally appropriate way.
27th-30th January 2020
It was our final week at PYDS, and we were determined to make the most of it, Lucy and I found the perfect flow for our workshops and built strong connections with the students being able to personalise the content in ways that were applicable to them. Holly and Rhi created mental health posters to be set up in every room and brochures to give to parents and staff members to raise awareness of mental health and to start the conversation and Sunday had been given an important project, she was in charge of designing and painting a mural in the school auditorium. It had been hard work to get these projects completed on time but seeing the appreciation and positive reactions from students and teachers alike made it worth it and we would all happily do it again in a heartbeat.
31st January 2020
Today was our last day at school and Lucy and I’s last day in India but we were determined to make the most of it. We got to PYDS earlier than usual and with Sunday’s direction started work on the mural, with the help of some of the art students. I had personally never been a part of a project like this and I found an immense amount of satisfaction, knowing that in whatever small way I had contributed to the mural and the wider school as a whole, a sentiment that all of the interns shared. Lucy and I had to leave early as our flights left from Dehradun that afternoon. We spent the last precious hours at the school with teary goodbyes with students, exchanging gifts and cards and debriefing with the principal and other staff, giving feedback on what areas they could improve on and what they were doing well.
The past 3 weeks had been an absolute whirlwind, we squeezed in so much and accomplished so much along the way, it was the trip of a lifetime and whilst it was sad and hard to say goodbye I know that I will carry these experiences memories and friends with me for a long time. India it’s been a blast goodbye for now, but definitely not forever!
“I know that I will carry these experiences memories and friends with me for a long time. India it’s been a blast goodbye for now, but definitely not forever.”
- Lincoln Maitland-Smith,
Bachelor of Psychological Science and Business,
Griffith University