For our rural immersion trip, we went to a small village in Gujarat called Lachhakadi. We visited farms, helped with farming, painted walls, and helped in a bamboo factory, to name a few. This was a humbling and eye-opening experience that made us see different income needs, entertainment needs and trading techniques.

LO2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
Bamboo work and farming were things I had never done before. When told we would be doing these things, we whined and cribbed about it. When doing it, we found that we learned different things and new experiences that we may never have learned otherwise. Challenges in our ways were perhaps the hard labour and trekking under the scorching sun. But we learned new survial skill from them too.

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
During the entire trip, I tried to give my best in all the activities. From wall painting to trekking to farming to packing pickles, I tried my best to gain the maximum out of it and enjoy the moment. I was able to work on my painting skills, interaction with children, trekking and, for the most part, even farming.

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
Rural development, education inequity, and sustainable agriculture are some the the global issues we learned about from this trip. There were farmers that had gotten help from local NGOs and we could see the rural as well as the agricultural development this brought for them. In the public schools we saw how thankful the children were for the quality education. This drove us to find more sustainable and effective solutions to rural problems.

In conclusion, this CAS experience was one of the best trips of my life. Things we learned and experienced, we will remember for long. In terms of personal development, global issue awareness and working in teams, we truly did get the best knowledge and experiences.