Undergraduate Blog / Defining Your Babson

Bal Ashram Adventure

 

“These have been the two best days in India so far”, said BRIC student Greg Gonzalez. These words uttered by Greg were also uttered by many other BRIC students in regard to our Bal Ashram visit. To begin the Bal Ashram was a place where former Child laborers were rescued and given a chance to lead a better life. Our visit to the Our visit to the Ashram in Rajasthan began with a proper introduction by the children at the Ashram. We were welcomed with “chanlos” (Bindi) and flower necklaces by the students. I return we had soccer balls, cricket bats, air pumps and tennis balls for them. After settling down in our rooms our two days of fun and lifelong memories began. We were greeted by the volunteer liaison Basu Rai who was himself a victim of child labor slavery. Throughout our time at the Ashram Basu was an inspiration to all and really fostered connections between the children and our group. Moreover our group was a very personable group and despite the language barrier we were able to create special connections with the children. It was as if each and every of our members had two or three kids they were eager to see! Throughout our time there we played sports with the children, we conducted workshops on child slavery and more importantly had some awesome dance sessions with the children. The enthusiasm these children showed in all the activities really motivated our entire group to give their all. These two days were filled with birthday celebrations, meetings with the founder of the, intense sports competitions and more importantly fostering of lifetime relationships!