Laughter in Baghal
On June 26, 2011 I began my journey to India. I departed Toronto with twenty-two strangers with the same mission to build a school and have an adventure of a lifetime. Once in India I had no communication with my friends or family back home, and I lived with contaminated water, unreliable electricity, and an assortment of repulsive bugs. These minor hardships I experienced for a short period of time will never equal those I witnessed every day. Everywhere I looked there was a child underfed and out of school. Stray flea infested dogs lay in the streets, and I saw endless amounts of trash. But these horrific images cemented in my memory motivated me to do something besides pitying the people in the community where I worked. Whether it was digging the foundation for the new school in Baghal, learning about alternative income projects in the village of Lai Gow, or visiting Mother Teresa’s orphanages in the overpopulated city of Udaipur, I spent every moment trying to make any kind of difference I could. I spoke in broken Hindi to the elders of the village and saw how eager the children were to attend school, which further strengthened my desire to help. Of course leaving the beloved family I had become a part of was the hardest moment of the trip, and upon return to my privileged life in Marin I missed my Indian family even more than I thought imaginable.
At this point I knew I had to share my experience with others and build global awareness. With that goal in ming I founded the Southern Marin Free the Children Club.