In retrospect my decision to go to India and become a volunteer was quite spontaneous. And now I
can say: “that was the best decision I could have ever made!“

Throughout my time here in India I experienced so many things. It was full of fun, people, trips,
music, colours, festivals and more. There also used to be tough times in which I struggled. But I never felt left alone. There were other volunteers helping me, who I could talk to. And with the support
of FSL it got easier to solve my problems and overcome challenges.

I am currently working in the G.H.P. school Hosadu. The greatest challenge I had throughout my whole time here was standing Infront of a class to teach with zero experience on how to handle a class. I’ve
got to say after 10 months of experience it is still challenging sometimes, but you grow into the
project. You learn how things work, what the kids like and don’t like as well as you learn how
to teach the children. I am not a studied teacher but I found my way on how to handle it. I hold a
balance between standing as an authority Infront of the class and being a friend to the children.
For me it was very important to break the ice with the kids and to be able to laugh and play with them. It
gives me so much joy to see their happy faces.

Through my role in the project, as a teacher, I tried to teach the children more about English. They got more confident in talking and improved their skills. But the biggest achievement I have made is the relationship with the kids.

Seeing the children run towards me in the morning to say hello, asking for a High-five or showing interest in my life as well as asking me how I am and how I slept last night. I always start smiling thinking about my time in the school. Although there have been challenging times, I always knew what I am doing this for. Through time I have gained so much growth and confidence.
I could have never achieved this without going abroad and coming to India.

The atmosphere in my host family, which lives in Kundapur, is better than I ever imagined. For me it is
a safe place to calm down after a hard day. My host family is very experienced in having volunteers
which helped me a lot. With them I could deeply immerse myself into the culture. They were always
welcoming, friendly and interested in me as a person. I am so thankful for them. They made me feel
like being a part of the family.

It is not possible to describe how much my volunteer service gave me. These deeply friendships with
the volunteers, the relationship to my host family, my time in the project, all of these wonderful trips
I had, all of these beautiful moments of joy, good food and music. I already start missing it just by
thinking about what I will leave behind.

By Anne Wichmann (LTV Volunteer – IJGD – FSL India)