I had decided along with my friend Akshat that we will be going to our GC for project week. We had collaborated with the rest of our GC every Tuesday to figure out what projects we will help out with when we go there. We had a few things planned out: understanding the plastic wastage there and how we can recycle it, the energy usage in the village so that we can help implement solar power and initiate the leadership workshops to help students take initiative and nudge them to help their community as well. Going to the school itself was a completely different experience, it’s nothing at all what I imagined it to be. I felt that the system there was so much more efficient than what I presumed it would be and the kids there were so motivated and engaged in classes. I also underestimated the energy requirements in the community because they had access to ample energy for daily usage. Switching to solar would just be a hassle for them. The person in charge, Sokrath, was very happy with our work there at the end. I learnt a lot about connecting with a new community and how being physically present is much different to seeing a situation from far away. We had to be extra careful of how we interact with the children there because we don’t want to hurt them in any way, so we had to be culturally and socially aware of what were doing there so that we did our duties and helped them at the same time.
