I visited India 2 years ago as part of a Changing Worlds package to teach English in a village school in Kerala. I had an absolutely amazing time and made so many friends. It truly was a once in a lifetime trip…or so I thought until I got itchy feet again and went back to see how the school and the local villagers were doing. I took my girlfriend there this time, as I’d been rabbiting on at her for ages about how amazing the country was. We had a fantastic time although we could only go for a relatively short trip compared to first time around.
We saw the Tetley tea plantations in Munnar and even managed to get a guided tour by the manager. We rode an elephant, taught in a school for 2 days, met up with the local villagers and the school teachers/kids and also saw Krish (the Changing worlds Rep in Chennai), who is a star! It was really good to see Krish and catch up with what he’s been doing. He was so helpful when I was there for my placement 2 years ago and again when I visited with my girlfriend. Before we left Britain this year, he was so kind to have booked our train tickets so that we could travel from Chennai to Kerala to see the school / villagers. I think we would have really been stuck trying to book the train on our own as it’s quite complicated (India’s not an easy country at the best of times!). He was also really kind and he kept in touch with us during our trip to offer us advice and to see that we were alright.
I don’t think I would have felt confident to have gone to India on my own if I didn’t have the support, advice and contacts from Changing Worlds. Here’s to going back again in a couple of years time!!
