By Utkarsh More, Volunteer, Nashik Chapter
“It was my First time with the AFS family and I was quite excited for the community service. I was hosted at Varsha mam’s house. Basically, my community service trip was very good & it gave me more than what all I expected.
The day started at 7 am in the morning, we had to reach the school by 9 am and it finished at 3 pm. The students in the government school were too good and a bit mischievous but they used to listen to us. Students were quite excited to learn new things from us, we taught them Mathematics, Science and other subjects and in return they used to teach us Garba. Every day we played kho-kho with the students and it was quite fun to play with them and teach them as well. This was an unforgettable experience for me.I got an internal satisfaction which cannot be compared to anything else.
Talking about the host family, I had a very great host Mom & Dad. They took great care of me, because of which, I never felt that I was out of my home or was staying in a new family. Staying with them, I felt like they were my real Mom & Dad. Because of AFS, now I have another family in Gujarat, I’ve got friends from all over India and we are bonded as a FAMILY forever. Also, talking about the leaders of this program…Aadil bhai cared and guided us like a big brother & Divya mam too cared like a mother.
This community service helped me to build a very big self-confidence of speaking in front of a big crowd. It also taught me to do all my work on my own and to be self-dependent.