Gayathri Menon, Grade 11
UWC Mahindra
Our local project week was coming to an end, and our team had gathered in the courtyard. It had been 4 days since we started working with the Rakt (Hindi for 'blood') team to organise a blood collection drive to raise awareness against rampant anaemia in rural Maharashtrian women. The issue had caught the eyes of a pre-existing team of my batchmates, and they organised an amazing project to combat the issue.
The 4-day project seemed longer than usual as we woke up to the rising sun and continued working even after midnight. This was the last day, the one that mattered the most. In the quaint little village that was our destination, we lost our way multiple times. Apparently, Google Maps was not reliable in rural areas. Trying to communicate in Hindi to native Marathi speakers, hand gestures, and head-nods got us farther than the languages we knew. The dusty roads of Mulshi and the stunning greenery around us made us forget the emergence of a pandemic.
We arrived in the sun-lit village armed with tapes, weighing scales, papers, and consent forms. The empty school veranda was soon buzzing; setting up for the doctors proved to be quite the frenzy. The afternoon sun was making its way down, and the women began lining up.
The team was coordinated beyond measure; we had spent three days organising it after all. One by one, the women signed consent forms, had their height and weight measured, their medical history recorded, and their blood collected by medical professionals. After a few dozen recordings, squatting down to note the weight on the scale made my back feel perpetually bent.
The flurry of women seemed to dwindle, and it was past the curfew for our return back to campus. After a few photos as a keepsake, we found ourselves exhausted yet content. We had successfully noted, tested, and verified the findings of the issue at hand.
At first, my apprehensions regarding a blood drive were prominent, especially when there was already significant research on it. But through the experience of organising such an event, not only did we develop useful skills such as the ability to organise logistics but also seamlessly coordinate a team, but most importantly, we actually made an impact. Doing your own testing not only provides you with a strong foundation for the justification of further activities but also allows you to understand the complexity of tackling issues pertaining to health.
As songs fill the air inside the jeep and sighs and grunts of exhaustion blend with the beats, the stunning view of the hills stands out. 'This is why I'm here,' I remember thinking to myself. The MUWCI life has always been about making a positive impact, and for the first time, I felt like I had made a genuine impact. Sleepless nights and early mornings were worth what we had accomplished.
The busyness of IB coupled with a flourishing on and off-campus culture, it was in moments like these that the MUWCI journey seems different from anything I had ever experienced. Sounds cliche, but even in a jeep huddled between a couple of shouting, exhausted teenagers, a sense of ease engulfed me- a satisfaction you derive from doing what you love. As we all got out of the jeep, we had missed chai time. Every day of the project, we would get together for a warm cup of masala chai in the cafeteria, and we all desperately needed one last chai time - for closure.
As Caroline played in the background and golden hour seemed to fade away, the scent from our tiny mugs filled with chai, we brewed filled the common room. The campus was slowly getting back to its usual rhythm, and the bottoms of our mugs became visible. The bittersweet chai became the perfect metaphor for the project we had invested ourselves in, and what we gained from it exceeded everything we put into it.
The 4-day project seemed longer than usual as we woke up to the rising sun and continued working even after midnight. This was the last day, the one that mattered the most. In the quaint little village that was our destination, we lost our way multiple times. Apparently, Google Maps was not reliable in rural areas. Trying to communicate in Hindi to native Marathi speakers, hand gestures, and head-nods got us farther than the languages we knew. The dusty roads of Mulshi and the stunning greenery around us made us forget the emergence of a pandemic.
We arrived in the sun-lit village armed with tapes, weighing scales, papers, and consent forms. The empty school veranda was soon buzzing; setting up for the doctors proved to be quite the frenzy. The afternoon sun was making its way down, and the women began lining up.
The team was coordinated beyond measure; we had spent three days organising it after all. One by one, the women signed consent forms, had their height and weight measured, their medical history recorded, and their blood collected by medical professionals. After a few dozen recordings, squatting down to note the weight on the scale made my back feel perpetually bent.
The flurry of women seemed to dwindle, and it was past the curfew for our return back to campus. After a few photos as a keepsake, we found ourselves exhausted yet content. We had successfully noted, tested, and verified the findings of the issue at hand.
At first, my apprehensions regarding a blood drive were prominent, especially when there was already significant research on it. But through the experience of organising such an event, not only did we develop useful skills such as the ability to organise logistics but also seamlessly coordinate a team, but most importantly, we actually made an impact. Doing your own testing not only provides you with a strong foundation for the justification of further activities but also allows you to understand the complexity of tackling issues pertaining to health.
As songs fill the air inside the jeep and sighs and grunts of exhaustion blend with the beats, the stunning view of the hills stands out. 'This is why I'm here,' I remember thinking to myself. The MUWCI life has always been about making a positive impact, and for the first time, I felt like I had made a genuine impact. Sleepless nights and early mornings were worth what we had accomplished.
The busyness of IB coupled with a flourishing on and off-campus culture, it was in moments like these that the MUWCI journey seems different from anything I had ever experienced. Sounds cliche, but even in a jeep huddled between a couple of shouting, exhausted teenagers, a sense of ease engulfed me- a satisfaction you derive from doing what you love. As we all got out of the jeep, we had missed chai time. Every day of the project, we would get together for a warm cup of masala chai in the cafeteria, and we all desperately needed one last chai time - for closure.
As Caroline played in the background and golden hour seemed to fade away, the scent from our tiny mugs filled with chai, we brewed filled the common room. The campus was slowly getting back to its usual rhythm, and the bottoms of our mugs became visible. The bittersweet chai became the perfect metaphor for the project we had invested ourselves in, and what we gained from it exceeded everything we put into it.
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