Grade 8 & 9 Service trip to India
18th February – 28th February 2018

‘Empowering Rural India’ is a project that supports impoverished villages through the three pillars of Infrastructure, Education and Empowerment. BIS has been involved in this project for the last 6 years and it is a highlight of our Service year.

And so it was that on Sunday 18th February a swarm of 16 stalwart students (biggest group ever !!), together with myself, Mr Escat and Mr Heinl boarded a flight to Mumbai for our 10day adventure. As ever the pace was fast, furious, fascinating and fun.

Our cultural travels included a visit to the Elephanta Island caves, various temples, the Dhobi ghats (a huge outdoor ‘laundry service’), the Mahatma Gandhi museum and a Bollywood tour. This year the traffic in Mumbai seemed worse than usual and we spent far too many hours imprisoned in our bus …. aching to reach our final destinations !!

The village service project at Kumbhaghar is in a stunning location - in the middle of nowhere about 100 kms from Mumbai with rolling countryside and a sparse population – a real juxtaposition to the crazy traffic and heaving crowds of Mumbai. We made bricks, built house walls and dug and fixed foundations. We worked in ‘chain-gangs’ in the heat of the Indian sun - 38˚C - moving stones to fill in foundations or passing the concrete to build the walls. We probably drank enough water to fill a swimming pool - just to keep hydrated. The students were committed and hardworking – often working above and beyond what was required…. especially in the brick making competition! They did a brilliant job and we achieved a huge amount in the relatively short time we were there.

We also visited the world heritage site of Matheran – which is close to another of the villages supported by Empowering Rural India. Although this village project has now been designated as finished, we wanted our students to see a ‘finished product’ and it is also one which BIS students worked on for several years.

Tired but fulfilled, we returned to Mumbai. Our sojourn in India was slightly extended when our night flight to Munich was cancelled! A sleep in a 5* hotel, a lovely lunch and 15 hours later, we did eventually board a flight home. The transition from +38˚C to - 12˚C was nonetheless a bit of a shock to the system…

It is always a privilege to work on this project and this year was no exception. Our students were great representatives of our school. Exposure to this sort of service activity in a challenging environment well outside their comfort zone has lent them new perspectives on culture, internationalism and need and I hope they will carry this forward with them.