Race to embrace was an event introduced by Parag sir. Race to Embrace is a peer-to-peer immersion to deliberate on these life’s big questions in the hopes that we can all benefit from one another’s experiences and encourage one another in more fully embracing life’s paradoxes and mysteries. The circle’s purpose is to simply hold the questions, hold many viewpoints, and create space for collective intelligence and context to develop rather than to offer prescriptive solutions.

During one of these sessions, we were introduced to Nimesh (Nimo) Patel. He came all the way from America to serve the community of underprivileged people. He started working with an NGO, basically introduced Manav Sadhna. He aimed to engage in a voluntary activity. The aim of Manav Sadhna as a NGO was ‘Guided by Mahatma Gandhi’s message to Love all, Serve all, we help transform underprivileged communities through a range of initiatives. In order to foster transformational change in marginalized communities, we offer a wide spectrum of programs that provide services in Holistic Education, Youth Empowerment, Women’s Empowerment, Senior Care, Nutrition, Health and Hygiene and Livelihoods. We also run initiatives anchored entirely in the spirit of compassion and kindness.

We were every inspired by his act and wishes to do something for the community. I myself have seen a lot of people struggling to survive and feed themselves. A lot of children do not even have the opportunity to study and fulfill their basic needs. And so, we decided to go on a trip to Manav Sadhna located in Ahmedabad.  We experienced a lot of new, different things, helped the children, cleaned streets. All in all, we did all that we could for the childrens and the community. The 2 days went by so quick, the fun, the joy, the learning, the experience everything was very worthwhile and something that we would relish forever. We engaged in a lot of activities like rag picking early in the morning at 5, helping children make artworks and earn, serving food, visited seva cafe etc. 

The LO’s I developed throughout the experience were:

LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth:

Me and my friend planned out the whole logistics and the planned the trip and throughout the process it was keen to be mindful of our actions. As we were 2 people, we divided the tasks based on our strengths and weaknesses. I basically worked on areas like talking to the incharges for tickets, itinerary  and my friend worked out on the logistics such as the train ticket, accommodation, etc. But still both of us helped each other out in both the segments. This helped me work on my weaknesses and areas that I don’t usually enjoy working in. This was the first time I formally planned a trip. So it was necessary for the things to be quite perfect because any error in logistics would have been a big blunder when we would have been on the trip. So both of us settled down to clear things up as what and how to do and this was the result of our strengths and weaknesses that led the trip to be successful.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

 I remember we just had 2 days in our hands to plan a proper trip from talking to authorities, taking permissions, booking tickets, coordinating with everyone. All of this did not come handy and was very difficult to work with. We ideally had around 12-14 members accompanying us but day by day some of them refused, we already had made the arrangements for them but they backed out at the last minute. It was also difficult to cooperate and listen to everyone’s different perspectives and come up with a common solution. Sometimes it was difficult to handle the trip mates as they had their own desires and expectations which we tried to fulfill but did not succeed. The most difficult aspect of the visit while we were travelling was communicating with them and getting them to grasp what we were trying to communicate. For the sessions to run smoothly, effective communication was crucial. Notwithstanding the communication difficulties, their knowledge and enjoyment of the game indicated that their community service efforts had been successful and their aims had been met. In order to overcome the difficulty, we volunteers frequently used signs and symbols to communicate our ideas to the kids in a more cogent manner. This alternative was crucial and required.

LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

I identify myself as a highly organized person. I don’t like work when I have mess around me, I like to keep things at it’s place and make sure everything is right in front of me when I need it. So as being a organized person it was quite helpful for me to initiate and plan the whole CAS experience/trip to a different city than where I am located in. As the name suggests ‘initiating and planning’ at first read it might sound very easy to work with but it does require a lot of energy and time to be able to accomplish this at its best. Just like aforementioned, we decided to go on this trip just 2 days before we left. 48 hours went by so fast. During this time we had to plan the whole 2 day from itenary, to transport, to stay to activities we were going to engage in the NGO, food etc. Firstly, we went to have a word with school’s authority to help us narrow down on how to plan the trip and also for the permissions. We then contacted the NGo for the accommodation and proper timeline of how things were lined up when we reach there. We contacted the teachers for the tickets so that we do not buffle up while on the trip. Every element of the planning was worth the whole experience. Working in stress and hectic environment helped us be more diligent with our actions and verify each and every step twice for minimized errors that would hamper us on the trip. With all the experience I have now, it definitely would be easier for me plan more events with different people. 

LO4:Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

As simple as it can be it was very crucial for me to show up during the trip because it was something I wanted to do since a long time. Me and my family engage in activities like giving food to the people on street, distributing things we don’t need anymore so going to a NGO seemed more interesting to me. While planning the trip, there were a lot of times we felt that we should give up as we have less time, but we did not. We committed and sticked to the promises and hopes we had for the trip. Throughout the trip, we kept discussing about coming back again to such NGO’s often and we will be committed to such small acts that we can do from our side.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

The aim of Manav Sadhna was working on paths of Mahatma Gandhi. One of this lessons was to work together for better outcomes. Keeping  this in mind, we were all geared up to work together and this event was a success. Firstly, it was important to settle down and discuss what activities and games we were going to play with the children. Every step like these required all of us to be present and discuss our viewpoints so that our ideas do not contradict and consider each other’s ideas for a smooth trip. Since all of us represent our school at the NGO it was vital to be on the same page and make sure our ideas match. For me, it is very vital to work together/collaboratively because being a team if you don’t socialise and are not the same page it might hamper the whole process. The essence of teamwork only comes if the teal members work with hands in hands and make the process more beautiful and fruitful. Similarly, going on a trip to an unknown city we had to be together as a whole and support each other on our lows. 

LO6:Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Understanding international problems enables me to advance personally as an IB learner and join a diverse society. We defined and worked for many SDGs throughout the process, including: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, Excellent Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Reducing Inequality.

Slums, or low-income neighbourhoods, are the product of villages that have been abandoned. India’s urban centres continue to see exponential increases in population as people move there in pursuit of jobs, access to needs, and a higher standard of living.

Although these communities are thriving and have a lot of potential, they are also troubled by a number of issues that trap many people in a cycle of depression and poverty, including poor hygiene, unemployment, illiteracy, addiction, abuse, and violence.

According to Gandhi Ashram, “Through a variety of programmes that provide both the individual and the community with a way to break the cycle of poverty, advance, and alter their condition, they have attempted to construct a community center model to provide spaces to strengthen marginalized populations”. They aim to work on all the sustainable development goals and let every human being deserve every aspect of life and basic necessities. The core components of their NGO are: All religion prayer, nutrition, basic health and hygiene, and personal growth (academics and physical) 

Visiting Gandhi Ashram felt so unreal, it was eye-opening for us to experience that there are some people who really are keen to work for the community at their best and serve them. We saw them having a lot of community centers that provide underprivileged children with food, education, a way to learn through their creativity, music sessions for the elderly, and many more programs and activities. We all had a chance to work through all of these activities and they were so much fun.If we hadn’t worked with Manav Sadhna, we wouldn’t have been able to learn as many lessons and life skills.

LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

After being with the kids the whole day and spending time with them, we decided to visit everyone’s home and talk to their family. On that day, all of us were very well dressed so we had second thoughts about going to their place because we thought we might make them feel inferior and worthless, make them feel how they don’t have the resources to dress so well like us. But we decided to give it a shot and visit their places keeping in mind our ethics and values and not demean anyone and rather make them feel more superior and most importantly comfortable. Another instance was that it was crucial to serve the purpose of the visit to manav sadhna.If we wanted, we would spend time exploring the city rather than going to the NGO but we chose what was right and were reminded of the purpose of coming to gandhi ashram to serve our community and make them feel equal.We are incredibly appreciative of the deeds we did for the community while upholding our morals, principles, and boundaries as well as our interpersonal skills.

To recapitulate, during the group discussions and interactions with the children at the manav sadhna, we honed communication skills. By considering the things we did and can do for the kids and taking stock of what went well and poorly, we also demonstrated reflective skills. We will always remember this trip as being really healthy and productive and will relish it forever. 

Video evidence:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXx9baivIYc[/embedyt]