THE HARROVIAN
Student Newspaper
Editor: Zeli Wang (Y13, Churchill)
Issue 13
Leadership for a better world
India House Building Trip by Mei Law (Y11, Gellhorn)
Typically, summertime evokes thoughts of beachside getaways, family fun and relaxation. My getaway, however, involved a physically challenging - albeit highly rewarding - expedition to India in order to build a house with thirteen other students. The adventure began with fundraising way back at the beginning of the last school year when summer seemed a long way off, yet before we knew it, we were checking items off the kit list and meeting Mr Lloyd at HKIA on the 1st July. I had my fair share of concerns about the trip (mainly contracting Malaria), but once aboard, they disappeared, replaced by anticipation and excitement of what lay ahead. Arriving at Philipkutty’s Farm, nestled in the Southern India Kerala backwaters, we were looked after by Anu and her family. We arrived late and exhausted, our first full day in India spent acclimatising, which served as a relaxing start while setting the mood for the trip ahead. Following our kilometre walk to the site the next day, I immediately felt out of place. As an unskilled building site worker, everything was new and I was forced to adopt the timeworn workman’s gesture: the head tilt. The bouts of heavy rain, which would typically be unwelcome, were a much needed relief to the deadly combination of unbearable heat and humidity when spending hours outside doing manual labour! Although the foundations of the house had already been laid, we weren’t short for jobs: mixing cement, bricklaying and even soldering metal work. The ‘highlight’ of our workday was undoubtedly the delivery truck dumping (no exaggeration) tonnes of bricks onto the road outside. We would then form a chain to transfer the bricks from the path into stacks around the site. When we began to lose steam, we could always count on the biscuit tray that was frequently ferried around. After a bruising day’s work, we would pile onto the back of the truck returning us to
October 2017
the farm. We received some strange looks, understandably - a group of filthy, tired tourists sitting on the back of a truck. During the trip, we took time off between building to visit two schools. I was struck by the similarities between the private ‘Choice School’ and Harrow Hong Kong, the most noticeable being the great facilities and school pride, which was evident from the school assembly we watched. The local school did not boast the same facilities as Choice School, but was full of enthusiastic and positive children, who were eager to learn all about us and where we lived. Half of us taught English while the other half played cricket with the students. Despite being shy initially, they quickly embraced the likes of ‘Hangman’, ‘Charades’ and ‘Pictionary’. Cricket was extremely popular, especially as the local boys dominated the score! The contrast between these two schools was marked and was not lost on us. However, both schools were clearly creating leading individuals for a better world. After nine days of work, we’d earned a well-deserved break at an Eco Lodge in the Spice Hills. A chance to indulge in massages, recollect and reflect. It was so relaxing that I hardly wanted to leave the comfort of my air-conditioned room although I managed to visit the local town and return with a few trinkets. Following the Spice Hills, we promptly returned to finish the build. Fortunately, they had saved the roofing as our
final task - having to mix and lay tons of cement on the roof in the oppressive heat resulted in a satisfying finale! Having bid farewell to the builders and Suresh (the architect) and commemorated our efforts with a photo, we left with the warming thought of how much a family would benefit from the effort we had put into the house. As well as building the house, we were fortunate to experience some of the culture that Kerala offered. Anu served traditional foods at the Farm and while it may have been difficult at first to adjust to curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner, writing this now, I can still savour the taste of the delicious food we sampled. We also visited a church and temple, watching devotees at one temple chanting and rolling in the sand, which I later learned was an attempt at balancing