March 2019 Newsletter | AFS India

STUDY ABROAD Discover new things about yourself and find your place in the world by going abroad.

HOST AN AFSer Experience your world through the eyes of a young person from another country.

A world-class intercultural educa onal organiza on; a global movement to develop and ac vate global ci zens AFS Intercultural Programs India is an interna onal, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organiza onthat provides intercultural learning opportuni es to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

SCHOOLS Implement AFS Intercultural Learning Programs at your school for your students & educators.

VOLUNTEER Join a Global community of changemakers & serve a change agent in your community.

Newsletter Your source to stay up to date with AFS Intercultural Programs India’s ac vi es, events & opportuni es www.india.afs.org | india@afs.org

MARCH 2019 2

Editorial by Aadil F.

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Intercultural Learning | Educa on

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Intercultural Competence Training For An External Organiza on

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Interna onal Volunteer (Couple) Exchange Program to Belgium Flanders

6 15 Na onal Community Service Trip 2019

The AFS Study Abroad Experience “I will never be completely home again, because a part of my heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price I have to pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. It’s not a trip or just an exchange program, it is a second life. Being on an exchange program is something I will never regret.

Become friends with people who aren’t your age, hang out with people whose first language isn’t the same as yours, get to know someone who doesn’t belong to your social class. This is how you see the world. This is how you grow. Being on an exchange program taught me one major lesson -- Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”, says an AFS Exchange Student.

There are many life-changing stories one can experience if they want to understand how AFS’s Exchange Program operates. It provides opportuni es to the students to become Global Ci zens and Changemakers. Par cipants get to re-define the meaning of adventure and get to learn new things through experien al learning while being in the cultural se ng different from theirs, but s ll being curious and empathe c to learn more.

To understand the impact of the AFS Study Abroad experience, a research was done by Dr. Mitchell Hammer of Hammer Consul ng in 2005 where a compara ve study was done between the students who were part of AFS study abroad experience and with those who did not. The study examined 1000 of students around the world who were part of the AFS Program and their peers. The research underscores that, AFS students when compared to their peers who haven’t been part of the AFS experience, has: -

Increased intercultural competence Increased knowledge of the host culture Increased fluency in the language of the host country Less anxiety in interac ng with people from different cultures Increased friendships with people from other cultures Greater intercultural networks

In 2008-2012, AFS par cipated in another study in partnership with Dr Nicolas Geereart and Kali Demes, cross-cultural psychology researchers at Essex University, UK. The Impact of Living Abroad Project (also known as The Kaleidoscope Project) was designed to understand the various factors that affect exchange par cipants’ ability to adapt to new environments. The study showcases that the exchange students showed increased knowledge and understanding not only of their host country but also of their home country following the exchange. They also developed a more complex iden ty by being part of a host culture and experienced increased self-esteem and decreasing levels of intergroup anxiety over the exchange year.

The AFS study abroad is a transforma ve experience which helps students to broaden their perspec ve, be more curious, learn to be empathe c and much more. Par cipants learn life-skills and find their own place in the world. Those who have been part of the AFS Study abroad experience, they choose to define themselves as a global ci zen who is responsible, confident, changemaker, self-aware, mature, cri cal-thinker, collaborators, problemsolvers etc. If you want to go abroad on an AFS exchange program and be part of the life-changing experience, reach out to us. There’s fun. There’s learning. There will be a thrill of exploring new things while understanding the challenges and naviga ng through them. AFS abroad experience changes you and your outlook towards the world – making you a Global Ci zen.

To know more about AFS Exchange Program Research, visit: h ps://india.afs.org/educa on/educa on-research/

Page 02 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

Photo: Ac vity-based session during Effect+ Workshop

Intercultural Learning | Educa on AFS ICL Educators’ Training and Effect+ Workshops

#InterculturalLearning AFS ICL Educators' Training and Effect+ workshops were organised in - Suchitra Academy, Hyderabad - The Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur, Hyderabad - The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, Hyderabad - Rajkumar College, Raipur, Chha sgarh The ICL Educators' Training equips teachers with skills to impart learners with socio-emo onal skills such as mindfulness, empathy and compassion that enables them to become global ci zens. Such skills help learners appreciate different cultures, act responsibly and find solu ons to global crisis. The workshops were duly facilitated

by Ms. Sarita Badhwar.

Effect+ workshops used interac ve learning methods to teach students how they can advance the United Na on’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also helping them develop intercultural competences, become savvy about the world around them, and be prepared to make an impact in their local communi es. This supports the global movement to advance intercultural learning and global ci zenship educa on and AFS’s role in it.

Page 03 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

Photo: Group Photo

Training Intercultural Competence Training For An External Organization

#InterculturalTraining On 8th March 2019, AFS India received an invita on to conduct an Intercultural Competence Training for a group of staffers of AKG India Pvt. Ltd. an external non-AFS organiza on located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The training was facilitated by Aadil Fahim, Chief Marke ng and Development Officer of AFS India.

Through a one-day workshop, par cipants were given the tools and resources to navigate in a new cultural se ng while taking their first step towards becoming an intercultural competent individual. With different learning objec ves, sessions like Defini on & Concept of Culture; Stereotypes & Generaliza ons; Cultural Values & Dimensions and Communica on Styles were conducted.

The sessions were designed to be interac ve and ac vity-based so that par cipants could understand the need to be interculturally competent while being in a different cultural environment. At the end of the workshop, par cipants were able

to explore various aspects of culture and learned how to navigate in a new cultural se ng while being curious and empathe c. They were also informed about business conduct and e que es.

The training saw a special session facilitated by experts from Turkey focusing on understanding Turkish Culture & Tradi ons. We’re grateful to AFS Turkey for collabora ng and helping us get an expert who shared her insights about Turkey. We also had the opportunity to have Kaan Cicigun, an AFS Exchange Student from Turkey, who interacted with the par cipants and shared his reflec ons about the cultural values and best prac ces. He enabled the understanding of cultural similari es and differences while retrospec ng in his mind the experiences of being in both countries, Turkey and India.

We look forward to crea ng more collabora ons and partnerships with external organiza ons in the year 2019.

Photo: During workshop

Page 04 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

Photo: Group Photo

Volunteerism International Volunteer (Couple) Exchange Program to Belgium Flanders

By Ameet Gohel, Volunteer, Vadodara Chapter

“If we danced and shared music, we'd be too busy en-joy-in' life to start a war.”

“Perhaps one of the greatest means to achieve global peace & harmony is CULTURAL EXCHANGE. I created a tailor-made program along with Ms. Tiene Lemmens of AFS Belgium Flanders, called the ADAM & EVA (Couple) volunteer exchange program.

Gra tude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn rou ne jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportuni es into blessings. At Brussels Interna onal airport, we were received with whole-hearted love and hospitality. A er much of kisses, hugs & affec on during the course of introduc on to each of the families with their hosts, we proceeded to Mr. Frans & Mrs. Carine's home for a tradi onal Belgium style drink & dinner experience that lasted for 2 hours with a lot of joy, excitement & nerve breaking humorous talks etc.

All of us were flabbergasted in the span of these 7 days stay with the host families, who made sure that neither did we miss the fun part of this trip nor do we miss our important cultural lessons.

While on our visit to the na onal office of AFS Belgium Flanders,

we're given to understand that 200 students from AFS Belgium Flanders were a part of different sending programs and around 160 students from different parts of AFS all over the world are being hosted in Belgium Flanders from a month to a year, from which majority were from Thailand. We had a very good interac ve session with AFS Belgium Flanders communica on staff Ms. Katrien Mestdagh and Na onal Director Ms. Caroline Steyaert.

Though we have taken ICL “W” Level workshop and a ended Intercultural Learning lectures during our AFS life, however, what prac cal intercultural learning has taught us was indeed mindblowing and can never be forgo en under any circumstances.

We're delighted to have this couple exchange program as significant and excep onal. We have created a lifelong rela onship with the families.

We thank and appreciate AFS India to inspire, mo vate and encourage us to customize such type of volunteer exchange program and we are looking forward to more such prospects in the future to keep learning all about living in harmony and to bring the world closer with Global Peace” Photo: Cultural Excursion

Page 05 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

Photo: Group Photo

Volunteerism National Community Service Trip 2019

#AFSCommunityService2019 We are happy to share about the successful comple on of Na onal Level Community Service Trip 2019 at Gandhinagar from 25th February to 2nd March 2019. The Na onal Level Community Service 2019 was built on the idea of crea ng social impact where AFS volunteers from Pan-India were invited to join together to address the local challenges and bring diverse communi es together by using their skills, knowledge and understanding to execute various projects & ac vi es at a local community. This project was based on the self-sustaining model where the materials and resources needed to execute the community service were either donated in-kind or bought with the money donated the volunteers and other external stakeholders.

For this year, we aimed at working with four different schools in the villages of Gandhinagar, Gujarat. We had a total number of 32 volunteers from diverse backgrounds and age group who came forward to help out these schools with different projects.

The Projects completed during the Service trip include: - Self-Development (with a focus on developing personal and interpersonal skills) - Personal Hygiene (with a focus on women and children hygiene) - Sports and Extracurricular Ac vi es - Educa on (with a focus on teaching English, Mathema cs, Science & Sanskrit) - Medical and Health Awareness Camps (With a focus on medical check-up for TB, Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Eye Care etc. and a special day camp held for ladies only (PAP Test) - Pain ng of Classrooms (wri ng quotes, tables, alphabets etc. on the wall with interac ve art-work done)

- Advancing Computer Educa on (with a focus on fixing computers and installa on) - Art & Cra Classes (with focus on teaching pain ng, sketching, origami etc.)

The management and the students of the school were very happy with all the ac vi es which were conducted during the service program. The school students were very keen on learning new things that the volunteers taught them. Not only did the students learned through this program but the volunteers too had a good intercultural learning experience as they were warmly accommodated by the host families at Gandhinagar.

Overall, everyone par cipated very passionately in the service and put in their level best in crea ng a social impact through this project. We are grateful to everyone from the volunteers to the school staff to the local authori es and management, to the host families for helping us in the execu on of the community service project. Special shout-out to AFS Gandhinagar volunteers for opening their hearts and home to all the volunteers. The con nuous support provided by host families showed the mo va on and commitment to AFS's mission.

Gra tude and thanks to the donors who contributed in cash as well as in-kind to make this project successful. Many thanks to donors for becoming supporters of AFS in its work; the dona on has helped transform the lives of thousands of students, families and individuals.

Thanks to all the volunteers and AFS well-wishers for believing in the AFS's mission and being part of the AFSeffect.

Photo: With Principals of Schools and T.S. Joshi, Director GCERT of Gujarat State

Page 06 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

#Testimonials

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Taking Class

The highlight of the program for me was that the children were really curious to learn what we had to teach. They implemented what we taught in prac ce. For example, I taught them how to use vowels. In the session, while introducing themselves they used to say "I want to become engineer". Post session, they corrected their sentences on their own and were able to say "I want to become an engineer". Some of them were so curious about certain informa on and wanted to learn more about the reason behind why we do certain things, especially in the menstrual hygiene sessions. The kids indeed made me feel valued and expressed that everything we taught over the week ma ered to them. There is nothing more one can take back other than such wonderful experiences and the love displayed by the kids.

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Personal Hygiene Class

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The more you do service to the community, the more you value world. These 4 days of community service in Gandhinagar Gujarat were the best part of my journey of 3 years volunteerism at AFS Intercultural Programs, India. Spending the me, teaching the kids with what we have learned, teaching the importance of the Golden words in English and other important values of life and further transforming of ordinary classroom learning to effec ve prac cal learning was the success and the change we all brought.

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Medical Camp

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The most beau ful thing I got to paint was our Indian flag, it was an honorable and proud moment for me. The best thing about this community service was that now I’ve got another family in Gandhinagar and many friends from around the country forever.

I s ll get calls from the students of Basan school asking me, “When are you going to come back to our school to teach us?” and that's the real sa sfac on that you get a er the community service. From this community service, I’ve come to know that educa on is the best thing to discover a new India so I’ve decided that I will go to the community service program each year !!! Thanks from the bo om of my heart to each and everyone was involved in this community service and who made it be the most successful and memorable event.

Medical Camp

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Page 07 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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Each day at community service made me understand and witness a new perspec ve towards life, equally giving me so many fun and memorable experiences. I became friends with the volunteers and alumni. I was involved in the Art & Cra group but I got to learn so many other things from students of the school.

I had an opportunity to serve mid-day meals in one of the schools where I learned that meal is the highlight for the students. It brings immense joy on their faces. I observed that the students in all the three schools where we worked, were aware of the importance of clean surroundings around them.

One day, when I reached the school, I saw one of the students mopping the floor. Being asked why is he doing it? He answered, "My clean surrounding makes me stay healthy!”.

Volunteering has helped me remain ac ve and feel part of the community. It was a rewarding experience. I have always worked as a staff but seeing life as a volunteer was truly amazing.

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Community service had a lot of posi ve effect on me, such as it helped me in developing my skills, making contacts, and ge ng an opportunity to improve the quality of life for others. As we know that electronic communica on is so prevalent in today’s world, and having an idea about electronic devices such as a computer is so essen al to communicate today, we taught students how to operate a computer on a daily basis.

Also, as we know playing sports is good for health. Taking part in sport is important for children as it reduces stress and enhances students mind and mood. Children have to be ac ve every day; physical ac vity s mulates growth and leads to the improved physical, emo onal health and ac ve their brains.

We taught them about good habits, self-confidence, and other posi ve skills for their benefit. We organized medical camps for the villages free of cost for the healthy life of the villagers. The community service project was a wonderful experience for all of us.

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AFS Community Service Trip 2019 is one of the most memorable me of my life. It is an amazing feeling to be a part of this event because this was the first me I have been to Gujarat, lived in Gujara culture and got to know our volunteers so closely. I enjoyed spending me with AFS volunteers while working together for a good cause. They were very enthusias c and I had a good me with all of them.

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Page 08 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

“

It was my first me with the AFS family and I was quite excited for the community service. I was hosted at Varsha mam's house. Basically, my community service trip was very good & it gave me more than what all I expected.

Taking Class

Art & Cra Session

The day started at 7 am in the morning, we had to reach the school by 9 am and it finished at 3 pm. The students in the government school were too good and a bit mischievous but they used to listen to us. Students were quite excited to learn new things from us, we taught them Mathema cs, Science and other subjects and in return they used to teach us Garba. Every day we played kho-kho with the students and it was quite fun to play with them and teach them as well. This was an unforge able experience for me.I got an internal sa sfac on which cannot be compared to anything else.

Talking about the host family, I had a very great host Mom & Dad. They took great care of me, because of which, I never felt that I was out of my home or was staying in a new family.

Staying with them, I felt like they were my real Mom & Dad. Because of AFS, now I have another family in Gujarat, I've got friends from all over India and we are bonded as a FAMILY forever. Also, talking about the leaders of this program...Aadil bhai cared and guided us like a big brother & Divya mam too cared like a mother.

This community service helped me to build a very big self confidence of speaking in front of a big crowd. It also taught me to do all my work on my own and to be self-dependent.

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Extra-Curricular Ac vity

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Taking Class

It is some mes seemed difficult to handle kids but things s ll went according to the plan. For me, teaching the students was a great experience. It was a process of teaching and learning.

The kids we met were extremely talented and smart. It was really easy to make them understand anything. They were very keen on learning new things and they’d even come to us and ask if they didn’t understand anything. It was a great experience overall. It was my second me, teaching the school children and I am very happy about the fact that I was given this opportunity.

All the volunteers and AFS India Staff members have worked really hard to make this event a success. I’m thankful and it is always great to be a part of any AFS event. I’d like to thank AFS for such an amazing opportunity and would like to congratulate all the par cipants for doing a wonderful job. Looking forward to many more events I can be a part of.

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Teaching Mathema cs

Page 09 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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First of all, I would like to thanks AFS India for providing me this wonderful opportunity. It was a really good experience for me. I consider myself lucky to be part of this good cause.

During this community service project, I got a chance to work with different groups. Also, I hosted 2 volunteers at my home.

For the first two days, I was part of the pain ng group. We painted the walls with the pictures of the alphabets, numbers, rhymes and good habits for children. I enjoyed pain ng with the team. On next days I supported in Medical camp group. I talked and mo vated all ladies to come and par cipate in the medical camp which was organized for ladies only. I was really happy to see a good number of villagers who got benefi ed from this camp on both days.

The support from all the volunteers was really awesome throughout this event. Once again many thanks to AFS for giving me this opportunity to connect with new people and collec vely work to create change for the greater cause.

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It all started from learning the cultural differences and giving back to the community. The first chance that I got a er coming back from the United States was the Na onal community service trip and I used it in all the possible way I could.

The one week in Gandhinagar was all about learning and teaching others. This reminded me of a quote saying “In learning, you will teach, and in teaching, you will learn”. I learned a lot by teaching the students at Borij school, staying with the na ve people of Gujarat, visi ng famous places in Gandhinagar, socializing with people from different parts of India and making long las ng friendship.

All these experience made my trip a beau ful and memorable one which I can cherish all my life me. Interac ng with the school students at Borij was just awesome because kids were always eager and passionate to learn new things. Coming to my host family, I would like to take this chance to thank them, “I thank them so much for opening their lovable home for me and for the care and love that showered on me for that one week,” I just felt the way I feel at home. The emo onal moment was when I le home, I really didn’t want to go back to Chennai.

Thanks to my host family for giving me that feeling. Last but not least, I would like to thank Divya mam and Aadil Bhai for their constant support and for choosing me as one of the par cipants. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity.

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Photo: Sports Session

Page 10 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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I’m indeed grateful to AFS Intercultural Programs India for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to be a part of group community service at Govt. school located at village Basan in Gandhinagar District. I was really excited to meet and have a bunch of crea ve, mindful, and enthusias c volunteers – most of them were young from different chapters, as a part of this community service.

Art & Cra Session

Community service organized at this govt. school by AFS was to make it more colorful with mo va onal slogans to enrich the lives of primary standard students that would encourage them to come to the school regularly and study.

I’m fortunate enough to have across a wide and vivid variety of friend-circle, through whom I was able to gather the handsome amount of dona on in kind and cash, which really helped the community service achieve its goal with great success.

To me, it has always been always a life cherishing and enlightening experience that gives me utmost pleasure with soulful sa sfac on for volunteering with AFS”

Taking Classes

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Sports Session

The Na onal Community Service program Program le a lifechanging impact on me. It super-charged my exis ng skills while helping me to build new ones such as me management, community analysis, decision-making, planning, and presen ng.

The moments I’ve spent with students at Palaj and Basan will always remain with me.

A special thanks to my host family (Mrs. & Mr. Parmar) who were always there to help us round the clock and bless us at each step.

Looking forward to the next volunteering opportunity.

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Teaching Mathema cs

Community service is that “feel good” ac vity that many of us want to accomplish, but don’t always make the me for. Giving back to society makes me a happy human being. One of the best parts of this community service was that we had volunteers par cipa ng from all over India who stayed in the host families at Gandhinagar, a big thanks to the host families and the en re Gandhinagar chapter. On the whole, it was a boundless experience for me which makes me grow more as a volunteer as well as a ci zen.

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Sports Session

Page 11 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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Throughout this Community Service Project, I have had a lot of new experiences and have learned a lot about various things such as leadership, teamwork, me culous planning, the society we live in and the people around us, and more importantly I learned a lot about myself.

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The community service trip was a very sa sfying and learning experience filled with love and joy. I hope to keep in touch with those kids via emails. Thank you AFS India and everyone who was involved for such an amazing opportunity.

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Photo: Interac ng with the Kids

Page 12 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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One of the thing which I would like to share from this service is, when I went to 5th grade, the students told me to teach rather than having fun, so teaching them without prepara on was new learning for me.

Being with students for 4 days was full of happiness. I got highly inspired by this community service and following it, I have planned to teach English, Maths, Art & Cra , Health Awareness sessions at 4 schools of Anand. I’ve loved being part of this social service and will con nue to serve the needy people always.

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Photo: Pain ng Group

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Community service not only had an immediate impact on my life but it also had a long-las ng impact. It was personal learning for me-- to respect others; to be helpful and kind; understand people who are different; developing leadership skills, becoming more pa ent, and working together towards a common goal. I strongly believe that “To be successful in life it is important to serve the community”.

I am passionate about learning and strongly believe that the purpose of impar ng educa on to the genera on of today is to cherish the moment and to thrive.

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VOLUNTEER + ACTION = IMPACT Page 13 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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The weeklong community service project at Gandhinagar, Gujarat was one such Golden opportunity provided by AFS India to serve the society, we got a chance to learn from it and make a difference.

Teaching them was not only learning for them but it was a learning experience for me as well. While teaching them, I had the opportunity to revise all the topics and chapters that I had studied long back. A er this project, I've started feeling more confident, mo vated and curious for more such opportuni es.

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The me and experience gained during this ac vity with the students and other volunteers is beyond explaining in words. In the process of teaching the students, I realized, that educa on has reached everywhere, in case if we are able to give these students the correct mentorship and guidance, maybe someday we'll get to see eminent personali es like Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam coming forward from each village like this. I am very happy that I was able to contribute at least 1% to advance the knowledge of the students.

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Distribu on of Materials & Resources

Distribu on of Materials & Resources

At the Closing Ceremony

Interac ng with the Kids

At the Statue of Unity

Page 14 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

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Photo: Closing Ceremony

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Community Service was a wonderful experience but the best moment of the school was on the last day. When I was about to leave class 5th, all the kids gathered around me and Abdul Salam and asked us for our autographs. That was the most adorable thing that they could’ve ever done for me and I’ve carried with this sweet memory along with me back home.

Spending seven hours a day with those students was fun. Not just teaching them but also, playing with them, dancing with them, praying with them and ea ng with them was so adorable that I’ve le a piece of my heart there to those kids. The smile on their face was so priceless when they used to see us coming. Even while wri ng this, I’m ge ng overwhelmed because they actually le an unforge able impact on me.

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Recogni on of Community Service

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Recogni on of Community Service

Volunteer to create change Join a movement of ac ve ci zens helping people and communi es learn to live together.

Interac ng with the Kids

Page 15 | March 2019 | Newsle er | AFS India

AFS Tree drawn by volunteer during Na onal Community Service 2019