Throughout history, India has been a country known for both their abundant resources and growing population. Now in 2015, India has managed to maintain their history, while simultaneously adding a modern twist. In fact, India is a vibrant society with an increasingly vigorous internal dynamic and an increasing influence, directly and indirectly, in the world. Moreover, India’s 903 million people counts for 15% of the worlds population. Unfortunately, due to the mass number of people in India, poverty is both common and severe. As a result, many people, especially children, lack necessities students at Collingwood take for granted such as clean water, food, transportation, and even school.
On Friday March 6th, 2015, 15 Collingwood students from grades 10-12 will accompany Ms. Hobson and Mr. Jacoby on a two-week long service trip to India. As one of the 15 students lucky enough to experience this wonderful adventure, I am excited to say that our trip will be filled with once in a lifetime experiences. Not only has Collingwood volunteered half of their trip itinerary to help build a school, they have paired up with the non-profit organization, Me to We, to work alongside and make the trip as smooth as possible.
Along with various building tasks, Collingwood students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of cultural experiences specific to India. These will include tasting the unique and delicious Indian cuisine, going on a water-walk with Me to We representatives, and start everyday off with an enlightening yoga session. I can confidently say that I am most excited for the water-walk opportunity, because I have never been in a position without easily available and clean drinking water, and this challenge is one faced by people in all Third World countries everyday.
India will be both a nerve-racking and challenging trip, but nevertheless will change each participant’s life forever. Being taught to appreciate what we have and where we come from is a lesson many of the students at Collingwood have never learnt, and I know all the students will be more than excited to bring back their newfound enlightenment after partaking in such a beautiful opportunity such as the 2015 India Service Trip.