Being situated in a rural setting presented us with various challenges and abundant opportunities for learning. Our CAS trip took us to Sankheda, a nearby rural area, where we delved deeply into the realm of dairy organic farming. We explored its significance, benefits, and current status, engaging in daily discussions on how to translate ideas into action. From contemplating essential improvements in the region to exploring various farming techniques and integrating ourselves into the community, the experience left a profound impact. It effectively encapsulated all three strands of Creativity, Activity, and Service. Here are some key insights garnered from the experience.
LO2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills.
I faced difficulty in interacting with children as their was a communication barrier and lack of comfort which resisted kids from interacting with us. However since it was a long day, gradually after serving them food and spending one long session of teaching those kids STEM by trying to give each of one of them personal attention, we were able to make them engage in our activities and play with them. Our day wasn’t just limited to spending time for fun but to motivate them to study with willingness and value the opportunity of education. Through stories and experiences, we shared a bond that we hope was admiring for them. This entire process taught me the significance of pateince, and how we ca’t expect things to go as we expect.
LO3: Initiate and Plan a CAS Experience
Beforehand planning was required to conduct science experiments at government school. So two days prior the event, we six members, who were interested in teaching science practicals grouped and discussed the possible experiments that we could do with our supervisor. There were severel ideas that were rejected, either because of lack of resource availability or concepts that are beyond rural kids current year syllabus. However, after taking suggestions from their head of the school and our supervisors, we decided on explaining projectile path.
LO6 – Engagement with issues of global significance.
Interaction with Panchayat allowed me to implement my existing knowledge of gloabl issues and suggest ways that they can overcome this problem based on our study. For instance, Lack of cleanliness in Sankheda made me question the panchatyat on their efforts to keep the river side area neat while they understood the value of hygine. Such adressing of global problems, drived Sankheda’s Sarpanj to clean the river side area, by collecting all the plastics and waste to make their rural place hygenic and a santized area for survival. Then, we observed how the regions we visited were populated with many children of our age, yet a notable resistance to attending school prevailed among them. Despite the availability of government schools and family support, a lack of motivation was evident. However there were also homes where family didnt support girl’s education or believed in genraltional working, demonstarting the cyle of poeverty where the lack of knowledge of education’s power put them into misconception of giving brith to more children and all of them getting engaged in farming so that they can help family prosper. Hence in panchayat we proposed the solution marking students’ attendance, then providing mid day meal or higher education fees to enciurage kids from studying as their costs gets covered up and instead of working they spend their right time on studies.
LO7 – Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
Through rural immersion, we understood the impact of our actions and choices on our community. The way people observe farmers, and agricultural field in India merely makes them sympathize on these low – income earners. However this field remains as one of the most static and always has demand in the market. Our interaction with people of Panchayat, farmers and local citizens of Sankheda opened our eyes to new perspective of how agriculature should be considered. For instance, in USA these farmers are called producers and given the most respect as people realise that their survival is possible because of these farmers while indians believe argiculture to be their last chosen profession. Such learning made us choose between what was morally right, the way we usually interact with farmers or the way we should respect our food and farmers. Our small actions made us reflect on our ethics begind our decisions.
Overall, this journey imparted invaluable lessons unlike any other experience. Maintaining commitment throughout proved to be a significant challenge, particularly due to the absence of familiar comforts in the rural environment. However, this immersion served as a profound opportunity to temporarily live the lives of the local inhabitants, fostering a deep sense of humility within me. It allowed me to momentarily detach from external distractions and contemplate the myriad difficulties and unimaginable challenges faced by communities around the world.
