The best time of my life

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think back to my time in India. I went with my mother 3 years ago now, when I was only 19 years old. I had been to India before, so I had an idea of what to expect. What I didn't expect, though, was how much more I could fall in love with this place and with every single person we met. We had looked around a lot before we went, to see who we would like to volunteer for. Sukret was the first person to answer the many emails we had sent out to various volunteer groups, and as soon as we had read it we were sold and never looked back. The organization of everything was impeccable! The family we stayed with are so unbelievably welcoming and will help you with anything you may need. The food is amazing, and their company is amazing. One thing that has to be said is that this is in no way an easy experience. Working with boys that have been through a lot of unthinkable things is hard to comprehend and very emotional. We soon realised that teaching them English and maths was not the most important part. Some of the boys had never had the opportunity to just be kids. Simply letting them play, making them smile and laugh, giving them cuddles and allowing them to be children was what a lot of them needed! Letting them learn through play was one of our many goals, and we couldn't have done it without the amazing help from Govind who translated for us and brought much joy to the boys as well.
The days can be long and hot, and after a day with the boys we could always look forward to a warm cup of Chai with Govind and our lovely tuctuc driver Totoram on our way home.
If you are there for a long time, Sukret and Govind have many ideas for things you can do over the weekends. They took us to a tiger safari, where we unfortunately did not see any tigers but still had such an adventure just getting there! Such great company:) India is a beautiful country that 'attacks' every single one of your senses - smells, noises, tastes and colours. Be prepared to be amazed! I would recommend this programme to anyone and everyone. I will never forgot this experience and truly hope to come again one day! We miss you all and think about you all the time. See you soon!