I’ve spent 8 days in Delhi,  India, in the end of November.
The Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, invites every year students from all over the world to the “Community Development & Leadership Summit” (CDLS). My school takes part in that project and so I had the great chance to go to India.
On some days we were divided into several small groups in which we had to discuss about things like “the world in 2050” or “charity”, “peace” and many other things.
And we did some sightseeing of course. On the first day we went to Rajghat, a monument for Mahatma Gandhi, situated in Delhi. We enlightened candles and some students sang Hinduism prayers, which was very impressive. We went to the Taj Mahal as well. It was great to see all the white marble and hearing stories about that wonder from a history teacher. And the weather was soooo good! (The smog in Delhi makes the air really bad)
Our host family showed us traditional food which was very delicious. And of course we went to a bazar to do some shopping.
And we visited another school where the students sang and danced for us. We could ride on an elephant or a camel.
One afternoon every country installed a stall and showed some traditional things such as maps and traditional food (especially sweets!). That was very interesting because you could see something from every country in a few minutes.
But we also went to the Palna, a home for orphaned, lost and abandoned children, which was very impressive to me. In Germany here are a lot of organisations which raise money for homes like that. You hear stories, you see pictures. But that it is not as impressive as in real life.
The children don’t have much. But they can go to a small school, they get food and they have a place to sleep. And they seemed so happy when we played some games with them!
But on the other side they have to leave this house when they are about 9 years old and the living conditions aren’t as good as ours. We visited them just for a few hours. Someone showed us the houses, where they sleep and eat. It felt so false to me. Coming over there just to see everything, the harm, and playing some games with the children. And then you leave and go back to your normal life.
On the streets (and yes,the traffic is really as awful as everyone says) you see a lot of children and people who don’t have work. The children can’t go to school. And every day you become happier that you have the possibility to go to school, thankful for your food and your home.
A really great thing about India is its culture. Because you can see this culture. Most of the women on the streets wear saris and many people seem so proud to be Indian.
The food and their way of living. Everything is so different from Germany. And I really enjoyed that. The open-minded people and the smell of Delhi – I will always remember these experiences.
I am thankful for everyone who supported me in this journey and I’m thankful for the Modern School, which invited us. Thankful for my parents who saved money for me and supported me.
And I’m thankful for the memories and the friends I could make. You are awesome guys and I will never forget you!