By Keval Rathod, Volunteer from Ahmedabad
“Indore community service trip was the most memorable experience of mine throughout the AFS journey. It was from 18th to 23rd December 2017. There were 39 volunteers from pan India. This community service project undertook in three government schools at three different places in the outskirts of Indore. Each volunteer were grouped as per their interest. We had Construction of classrooms and washrooms, Painting of classrooms, Education ( English & computer science and personal hygiene for girls.
I was in the Construction team. On the verry first day, four volunteers went to other school to start construction work over there and the remaining ones were in the first school. Firstly, we moved bricks from ground level to first floor. It was so good to see all the volunteers in spite being in other groups working together to move bricks.
Few volunteers started to help in making the walls under the guidance of workers and Santosh sir. I was mixing the cement and concrete mixture all the time and giving to the workers. Each volunteer had assigned to the task by group leader Deepak. By the end of the five days we had moved more than 2000 bricks. It was good to hear from the contractor that we had finished almost 80% of work and If they we’re doing that it would took them 10 days to finish the same work but we had just did it in 5 days. We had set the targets before and after the lunch, so lunch was like a power booster to everyone. Playing Badminton with school students after the lunch was really one of the candid moments. One big loving moment was to watch kids playing games during their lunch breaks. They were very enthusiastic about sports. Painting team had painted really great comic pictures and national symbols of India. AFS tree was a plus point.
Last day, I even tried to explore my painting skills and tried to help in painting the famous quotes from the great leaders. Teaching group had also done a great job. I even took two lectures of Social Science in 9th and 10th class. I taught them about the Indian Constitution and Geography of India. So many chapters had also bought souvenirs for students. We had a farewell from school on 22nd. Students made lovely cards and gave roses to us. Goodbyes to students was a tough experience. On last day, there was AFS farewell. Everyone got beautifully framed certificates and shared their experiences about the community service trip. Just because of team work and full dedication from all the volunteers and staffers, we were able to make the community service trip a huge success and a lifetime memorable experience. Indeed this trip was an eye-opener and overwhelming experience of my life. A big thank you to AFS India, Round Table India and all fellow volunteers.”