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Professor David Demko, PhD AgeVenture News Service 
Some people will go to the ends of the Earth to lend a helping hand. Nancy Bennett of Miami and Elizabeth Clark of Fort Lauderdale are among those special few. Bennett, a librarian, and Clark, a tireless volunteer, were among 12 North Americans who recently traveled to India to participate on a three-week Global Volunteers service program at a school for underprivileged youths. Global Volunteers is a nonprofit organization that offers short-term service opportunities in 20 countries around the world.)
The volunteers worked at the Nave Institute, a 150-year-old school with an enrollment of 2,550 students, representing some of the poorest of the poor in the northern India province of Uttar Pradesh. The institute is located in the city of Lodhipur near Shahjahanpur (population 200,000) on the wide and vast Gangetic Plain about 200 miles east of Delhi. This is a largely agricultural area plagued by widespread economic poverty and illiteracy. 
Because of her professional background, Clark (photo left) assisted with English-teaching in the classroom, and Bennett (photo right) concentrated on helping out at the institute's poorly staffed library. The women didn't know each other before joining this program. The institute comprises three on-campus schools - an English medium school (preschool-12th grade), a Hindi medium school (first through 10th grade) and a two-year technical school for high-school graduates.
Most staff and about 300 students live on campus. By living and working with the local people, these women gained unique insights into the culture of this fascinating land. "I gained a lifetime of powerful positive memories from a brief three-week experience," said Bennett. "Because of the warmth of the reception we received, we were able to form some very significant bonds. For me, these included the librarian with whom I worked, the students and, of course, the staff members at the institute." "I gained an appreciation for the significance of the spiritual in India. Be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or otherwise based, the importance of one's spiritual being is very respected and very apparent," added Bennett. Clark found the students to be "curious about Americans, eager to share personal information, warm, loving and responsive to friendliness." She said she noticed a "loving warmth that opened among serious students (especially girls) when work was praised." She also noted that she gained a "greater understanding of the extent of poverty." During free time on weekends, the volunteers took train rides to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, as well as several historic sites and mosques. As usual, getting there was half the fun. "U.S. and Indian definitions of personal space are different. I was speechless at awakening early one morning after our first sleeper car train ride to discover many good-natured and respectful young men 'sharing' our compartment!" recalls Bennett. Global Volunteers each year coordinates 125 service programs around the world. Photo credit: Global Volunteers. |