Voluntour: Bal Prakash

When I discovered I was set to lose my job at the end of last summer, I used the months leading up to the end to loosely plan a dream trip. I wanted to use my time off wisely. I had worked hard for the past 15 years but had only recently become committed to a life travel and adventure, and I had never taken off for any extended amount of time. Although I wanted to leave some time for random adventures along the way, certain trips do require some planning and entry Visa’s so I formulated a loose plan of where I’d like to be, and when. But…it all changed when I came across one particular tour of India - G Adventures' "Voluntour in Rajasthan" - that included a volunteer component, and it became the one trip that everything else was built around.

The Bal Prakash Children’s Centre in Ajmer, India is home to 80 or so underprivileged children who study and live on premise. Not only are they educated here, they are also taught life skills as they contribute to the daily maintenance and upkeep of their home and the property – cleaning, caring for the plants and gardens, and making their daily bread (chapatti). The school, founded by Mrs. Paliwal, is funded privately through donations and the support of local community members who often stop by with medical expertise, food or even simple services like providing haircuts for the children.

The facility itself is a simple but functional structure, with each room serving multi-purposes. The larger sized rooms where the children sleep and do their homework also serve as their school room. Each day starts with a very strict schedule – tea then chores, school then lunch, school then play, school then chores, dinner then homework, then bed. All the children are divided into teams to tackle their chores and it’s hard not to notice that they approach each task with the same vigour that they have for their play time. Each plant is lovingly watered, floors swept tidy, and school desks carried away; all with a smile. Even the bigger children seem to help out the smaller ones without being asked. They have great pride in their home and are extremely grateful to be given the chance to learn.

It did not take long for us to fall in love with the children…and the children to fall in love with us. Though there were some language barriers, it soon became easy to communicate. We spent some time playing with the children –  cricket and badminton, learning some clapping songs, teaching them the limbo (a big hit), making jewellery, dancing and singing. We also helped with some of the chores – picking cotton from their small crop and making chapatti (though I wasn’t very good at it). In addition, we joined in some of their classroom activities and made a presentation about our home countries, which the children loved. Each day the children were waiting for us to arrive, and each day they followed our van out waving as we left.

My days visiting at Bal Prakash Children’s Centre were truly special – an experience that would be difficult to describe within this little blog. I strongly encourage anyone considering a tour in India to visit the school first-hand (or send your support through Planeterra). And, feel free to contact me via the comments section of this post should you have any questions about my experience or how you can get involved.