On the 7th March 2019 FSL-India’s Centre for Experiential Living received 40 students and 3 teachers from the Shri Siddhi Vinayaka Residential School located in the nearby village of Hattiangadi.

The reason for this visit was to do the last 100th Monkey session in a special way, learning and discovering more about FSL-India, and the different projects it runs. Moreover, this opportunity also gave room to do several activities in such a natural environment as our CEL.

The students arrived full of energy and excitement, and they were warmly welcomed by the CEL staff. Some FSL-India staff explained to them many things about our CEL: the building and its characteristics, the different projects that are going on, the role of the staff and the volunteers. The students had the chance to meet all the staff and their different responsibilities.

The group could learn about different initiatives run by FSL-India, such as the eco-bricks used to make benches, the Sea Turtle Conservation, Tent School and SAP-K Projects. They also learnt about the whole world of volunteering going on at FSL-India.

The students were very interested and curious, willing to learn more, so they asked many questions. The staff was happy to share their knowledge and to interact with them, so it was a beautiful moment of exchange for everybody.

After that, the last 100th Monkey session took place. There were two buckets full of water ready for an activity, a relay race involving glasses and balls. They enjoyed it a lot and their faces were shining. For the second activity, the students had to collect one object that starts with each of the letters of the alphabet. It was a great fun moment of running, organising themselves, and collecting as many things as possible. Using all these materials, they created some stories in groups. Most of the stories were connected to the environment and the pollution.

Geetha had already prepared a delicious juice and some cookies, so when the session finished all the group put all the materials back to their original place and started a small break to recover energies. Before leaving, a group photo was taken and everybody expressed their gratitude for such a nice afternoon. Everyone was in a happy mood, and the students enjoyed the visit a lot, in which they both learnt and had fun.

Some of the students’ opinions were:

“What an amazing Centre!”

 “Thanks for inviting us, we enjoyed a lot” and

“We hope to come again soon”.