Sangam Smiles
Let me introduce myself; my name is Sophie Collins, I am 15 years old, I live in a small village in the rural county of Wiltshire in South West England and in September 2006, I was selected to be a part of a County Guiding Trip to the World Centre, Sangam, to take part in the Action in the Community Project that was running there in August 2007.
We took the train from Mumbai to Pune and there were met by Sangam staff that organised rickshaws to Sangam. Everyone who has ridden in a rickshaw, I am sure, remembers her very first ride vividly. Ducking and weaving through the magic of Indian traffic, horns blaring, is an experience I will never forget. It was truly amazing. We met our fellow participants the next morning and it was my first experience of International Guiding. There were representatives from Northern England, Wales, New Zealand and India itself. Through out the next 10 days I formed firm guiding friendships with members from each group, forging links all over the world.
My trip was an incredible experience. As well as the project I had the opportunity to shop for saris, experience the culture, visit and be enrolled at the truly beautiful Taj Mahal and understand fully the influence WAGGGS has on so many lives. But most importantly it has given me a taste of the work that it is possible to do and the sense of satisfaction I gain from doing it. It has broadened my horizons and given me so many new goals. I fully intend and can’t wait to return to Sangam - it is a magical place. Most importantly, Action in the Community has opened my eyes to the idea of happiness surviving through the toughest of situations, and that taught me that smiles are the only universal language.
I’ve been a member of guiding since I was 7, but have never been further than Pax Lodge. In fact even with my parents I had only been to Europe. But the chance to meet new people in new places has always been my dream. When I heard I had been accepted for this trip I didn’t stop smiling for weeks! OB-PS helped me a great deal to be able to participate in this project and as it drew nearer my expectations rose, with guiding friends who had visited Sangam giving me a tiny taster of the Sangam spirit. I had such fun fundraising that the time flew by. Finally, we were flying out.
We took the train from Mumbai to Pune and there were met by Sangam staff that organised rickshaws to Sangam. Everyone who has ridden in a rickshaw, I am sure, remembers her very first ride vividly. Ducking and weaving through the magic of Indian traffic, horns blaring, is an experience I will never forget. It was truly amazing. We met our fellow participants the next morning and it was my first experience of International Guiding. There were representatives from Northern England, Wales, New Zealand and India itself. Through out the next 10 days I formed firm guiding friendships with members from each group, forging links all over the world.Whilst taking part in the project we visited four centres. We painted banners to brighten the corridors at a Muslim Girls Orphanage. We taught English to less privileged children at Akansha School. At Ishwari Women’s Centre, a place where women can learn craft, art or cooking to help support themselves, their family or to give themselves a sense of purpose we taught the ladies there a form of Indian Tribal art, Warli, we ourselves had learnt the day before, (needless to say they picked it up very quickly!) We also painted a Warli Art design in the room they were in, to brighten it up. Finally, we visited Doorstep School, which helps bring education to children living in slum areas or on construction sites. Here we painted a mural through the staircase of the building and one particularly fine artist (not me I hasten to add) managed a Mickey Mouse in the Namestae position!
As well as this every where we went, in true guiding spirit, we played games with the children, taught them simple English songs, watched them dance for us and let them teach us a few moves too. They helped us paint and took thousands of pictures of themselves on our cameras, all the while calling ’didi’ or teacher in Hindi and holding your hand. I am a young leader at my local Brownie pack and the similarities between the way they play, laugh and sing is amazing. But an Indian smile seems twice as wide as any Brownie and you can’t help but grin back.
My trip was an incredible experience. As well as the project I had the opportunity to shop for saris, experience the culture, visit and be enrolled at the truly beautiful Taj Mahal and understand fully the influence WAGGGS has on so many lives. But most importantly it has given me a taste of the work that it is possible to do and the sense of satisfaction I gain from doing it. It has broadened my horizons and given me so many new goals. I fully intend and can’t wait to return to Sangam - it is a magical place. Most importantly, Action in the Community has opened my eyes to the idea of happiness surviving through the toughest of situations, and that taught me that smiles are the only universal language.