The last day of school...

Our train was booked to leave last Sat at 730am from Faridabad to Agra so that meant our last day with the kids at the slum would be Friday. The last day was hard, the kids seemed to not have as much energy and were all just blah. But even with the low energy in the room, there was an unspoken feeling that we all shared that filled our hearts. Each time you look at these innocent little human beings and they smile with that sparkle and kindness it makes you feel like you were given an amazing gift. The gift of being able to be a part of their lives and allowing to share their prescence with us even for such a short period of time. I would just hope that in all the time I spent at the school the children were able to take away something from the time were were together. Unfortunately the time had come to end and as one of the teachers told them we would be leaving and not returning the next day, the kids just looked up and waved, smiling, thanking, giving high fives and wanting to hold our hands. I was trying to hold back but I cried. My heart melted and I cried some more. I just wanted to take all of them home with me. Even writing this my eyes are filling with tears. It was an unbelievable experience that has inspired me to continue on this path of helping others, learning more and more about what an impact it can make. This type of travel is different and I would not have wanted it another way.  It makes you realize how thankful you should be everyday. And that the little things and annoyances that come up at home are so minuscule and trivial compared to the everyday life of what I've seen. So remember how lucky you are and to be thankful for everything you have.  During our time volunteering many questions came up about how these organizations work and at times you wonder at times just how does the whole thing work? Is it an ethical organization? Where does the money go? How does the hierarchy look like of these organizations?What are the schools/ orphanages getting from all the fees that volunteers pay? How transparent are these organizations about the costs/breakdowns of volunteer fees? In hindsight, everyone we volunteered with including us agreed that we should've asked a thousand of questions before we embarked on the volunteering journey. We did ask questions but learned you need to ask more, sometimes you just assume things and find out later that you were completely wrong. What it has taught me is that for next time I know what to ask. There is nothing I would change even if I was frustrated at times, the experience has prepared me for my next volunteer opportunity abroad. It actually has created a good platform to start our get MAD projects. If you are interested in going to volunteer please ask me any questions I'd be more than happy to share more details about my time here in India. I'm lagging a bit behind and will write about Agra and Khajuraho, but I thought that my last day deserved it's own post! Currently we are in Khajuraho leaving on an overnight train to Varanasi. love. xx