I found my trip to Sankheda to be really enlightening. I learnt a lot about rural living from this trip, which opened my eyes. I developed a fresh outlook on life and learnt more about how people lived in communities. Over the course of the six-day trip, we learnt more about farming and the agriculture industry, visited the local furniture market in Sankheda, milked cows, taught children at the Ashramshala, and visited people in rural areas. I gave demonstrations of every CAS strand. When I taught arts and played games with the children at Asharamshala, I demonstrated creativity. activity where we milked the cows and learnt about farming. as well as service when we fed the kids at Ashramshala.

LO1 –  Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth 

I had to step out of my comfort zone during this trip because I had to share a living space and eat whatever was prepared, even if it wasn’t to my liking. We engaged in a variety of activities, such as hiking and organic farming, and my enthusiastic involvement in these helped me to recognise the need to improve my patience and active listening abilities. I need to pay closer attention to my environment and gain a better understanding of how my activities affect the results.

LO5 – Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively
We devoted one day of the trip entirely to helping the kids at the Ashramshala. We were divided into groups for enjoyable science, sports, and art activities. Along with a few other members of the arts team, I spent some time deciding what activities we wanted to do with the kids and allocating our responsibilities for the last day. Our incredible time at Ashramshala and our ability to positively impact those students’ lives would not have been possible if we hadn’t collaborated, recognised one another’s talents and shortcomings, and acted appropriately.

Learning Outcome 6 – Demonstrate Engagement with Issues of Global Significance

We visited the villages on the fourth day, spoke with the people living there, and discovered a number of problems. They had been barely surviving and living in terrible circumstances. The main problem I found was education; the kids we met in the the village lacked ambition and thought they would prefer to follow in their family’s footsteps and become farmers when they grew up. After dropping out of school, many children joined their families to work and support them. The family is forced to continue living that way, which feeds the poverty cycle. We urged the girl’s relatives to send her to school after noticing that she hadn’t been going to school. We found a lot of other worldwide difficulties in the communities, and we hope that growth and development will occur soon.

Learning outcome 7-  Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

It was difficult for me to adapt when we moved to a place we weren’t used to living in. I was first concerned that I wouldn’t be able to handle such a setting, but after moving there, I realised that the community had more to offer. It increased my appreciation for everything in my life. We had to be careful about what we said and whether our behaviour would have offended anyone because we were in a rural region. I also gained knowledge about the moral aspects of farming. We also sat in the graham panchayat, where people talk about how to make life simpler for the villagers and what more needs to be done for community planning. Whether they are morally correct or not, they must think about the ethics of the choices and decisions they make at every meeting. I also become even more appreciative of food after learning that it is socially and ethically wrong to waste it. I will no longer be conscious of my decisions and behaviours.

To sum up, the rural immersion trip has been a great educational experience. It was a true joy to leave my usual urban setting and enter a region with green surroundings, and I am appreciative for all the knowledge I have acquired.