Uplift Humanity... it accomplishes exactly what's in the name

The Uplift Humanity Program wasn't just great-- it was absolutely exceptional. However, I must say that as a part of the Hyderabad chapter- the only chapter that was working with juveniles our age, I was quite nervous at first. After all, the extravagant films and exaggerated news stories of modern media portray juveniles to be obnoxious, unworthy, and rebellious teenagers. This gave me all-the-more of a reason to be utterly shocked when the juveniles greeted us with warm smiles and friendly handshakes the first day we visited them. Everyday as we kept coming back and teaching them life skills, they grew closer with us. At first, it was a friendly yet robotic exchange of broken Telugu . Before we knew it, we were freely exchanging our cultures. They were absolutely fascinated when we showed them some of our "common necessities" like the plenty of dollar bills in the back of our wallets, our smart phone games, and the clear luxury displayed in the pictures on our phones.

Our mission was to teach them life skills, but I believe that the care we gave was more important. Most of the juveniles came into prison because of circumstances surrounding their parents: parents who simply did not care, parents who could not afford to care, and parents who were not alive or known to care. And yet, despite their desolate circumstances, they taught us Telugu when we messed up instead of laughing. They packed up our belongings without us asking so we had less work to do. They waited patiently in their seats for two hours when our bus got stuck in traffic. They showed their gratitude by giving us drawings or wired flowers every day, painstakingly made with little time, limited resources, and lots of love. Ironically, we were the ones with the bigger money, and yet, we couldn't gift them anything that rivaled their presents. It really proved that love has no bounds.

More so than the content we taught, the fact that people like volunteers came and gave them individualized attention is what made them feel loved and worthy, something they don't feel often. And by the tears streaming down every seemingly reserved teenager, I knew that not only will they miss us but also the care we gave that they have so long awaited for- and the care they will likely never get again.

This trip was supposed designed for me to teach the juveniles life skills. But in fact, I learned plenty and grew as a person. It opened my eyes to the poor and unfair judicial system in place that forced countless kids into prison. It made me realize that no one is simply good or bad like in a superhero movie because unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances can put one in unthinkable situations- just like the juveniles. As cliche as it may seem, this experience was so life changing for me that it made me realize what I'd like to pursue in the future as a career: Public Policy. To set policies that would represent the unrepresented and value the undervalued is what these amazing teenagers taught me. Like rejecting a lottery win, I see no reason to pass up a beautiful chance like Uplift Humanity.