Testimonials

The lives of those living in rural India do not come close to the lives of those in the US. Coming to Muni Seva Ashram has opened my eyes and has made me realize how fortunate my life in America is. The main reason I came to the camp was to experience how the ashram aids surrounding villages through health care, education, and sustainable ways of living. Going to the hospital everyday and seeing how different doctors treated villagers from Goraj and beyond was a treat. Meeting the kids from Parivar Mandir and Baxi Panch helped me create unbreakable bonds with them. Even at Bhagini Mandir, the women were given the respect they deserve. Seeing how solar energy is harnessed as a source for food and energy had really shown me that even in villages, people make an effort to conserve valuable resources.

The majority of the campers wanted to go into medicine. Even though I don't want to go in that path - instead finance path - the knowledge I received through the hospital was enlightening. In the OPD we made rotations through General, gastro, dental, and internal rooms. Going through each of them gave me a different view of what each doctor does. I discovered that the villagers do not like to take their medicine. After a few OPD sessions we visited the operating theater. We saw a few surgeries but I did not have the guts to go up close to see the full thing. The majority of the patients operated on have cancers caused by tobacco. Seeing the pain these patients have to go through is unbearable. Muni Seva Ashram will be starting a campaign to reduce the use of tobacco and educate children about the effects of it.

Teaching at Baxi Panch Primary school was an eye opening experience for me. Teaching the 7th grade and learning about children's lives in villages showed that there are greater things to life than materialistic items. I felt as if I were a celebrity and an alien because they all wanted to know who I was, where had I come from, and why I was there. They were mesmerized by an iPhone and begged to see pictures of America. I was constantly asked if I could take their picture, and they would grin ear to ear upon seeing themselves on a screen. Meeting kids like Snehal, Montu, Hitesh, Dhawal, and Pintu helped me get a closer look into how these kids live in this area. I'm proud to call these boys and all of the school children my friends.

The students at Parivar Mandir were orphans and semi-orphans. Teaching them on the field everyday was one of my favorite parts of the camp. We would teach and then play. Talking to these kids personally really gave me perspective. A little girl had told me that she would live on the road and she would be lucky if she found any stairs to sleep on. She would barely get any food. One day her mom took her to the market and abandoned her. This situation had not only happened to her. There were a few girls I had the chance to speak with and heard the same story. Feeling the pain of your parent just abandoning you is something I cant fully grasp onto. The sad part is, is that this is a little girls reality. These kids are probably the most selfless people I have ever met and are my inspiration.

Visiting Vankua high school helped me compare and contrast my school to theirs. The students basically live at school. Kids in America would dread to do that, but kids here have no choice. The way they teach here is way advanced than what I thought it would be. They learn about computers, robotics, politics, and have a smart class system using projectors. Students also can learn music, agriculture, and physical education, which is very similar to what we learn in America. It was great to connect with kids the same age as me and see how their life differs from mine.

No matter who they are and what they have, one thing they deserve is respect which is what these ladies dont get, and it is disappointing. Luckily at the ashram, women at Bhagini Mandir get the care they deserve. Meeting these ladies and talking with them was very refreshing and showed me how to interact with different people in different situations. Interacting with the women at Bhagini Mandir helped me realize that no matter who you see, you must give them the respect they deserve.

The mind set I came with and the mind set I left with are no where near each other. When I came, I was thinking that this would be a quick camp about health and education. What I am leaving with is an experience that I have never had before. I am leaving with a mind experienced of pain mentally and physically through the kids and patients. Living the way they do has shown me how fortunate I am on all levels.

The camp at Muni Seva Ashram has been a very interesting experience. From experiences like the crowded lines in Pavaghadh to learning about healthcare, this camp has given me so much to take back. For me, I thought this camp was going to help me make a decision to choose my career path. Even though it did not help to make my final decision, I did at least determine that I want to pursue a career in the medical field. Imagine yourself in India, without your parents, trying to get a rickshaw. For the first time, I learned that I could manage myself in basically an unknown country, such as India. I also sharpened my Guajarati, which helped me converse with the kids and adults in India.

One of my favorite parts of this camp was the conference with some of the best doctors in the ashram. In the conference we talked to two of the doctors about their point of view in their careers. They explained to us how hard they worked, their background, and their family's opinion on their career. The conference was very helpful because we are in the same position as they have been in the past. Another of my favorite aspects of this camp was how we were allowed to go visit our families at the end of the first week. Because my family lived close in Baroda, I was allowed to visit them Sunday night after we went out for a movie as a group. I thought we wouldn't be able to see our family for two weeks, but the camp coordinator made time for us to visit our respective families, and additionally, had an open policy on family visitation at the ashram. We also shadowed several doctors to help us select our appropriate fields. For instance, we visited the OPD, pathology, radiology, radiotherapy and some of the surgeons. The doctors accurately explained their field and their daily routine with each of their patients. Moreover, we watched a surgery and we were about two to three feet away from the surgeons!

Additionally our visits to the orphanage girls, women's mental institute, the Baxi Punch (the local elementary school), and Vankuva (the local high school) made me realize that we take a lot of things for granted. The kids and the women were so happy that we visited them because they also gained a new experience. We played special Indian games with the little boys and girls at Baxi Punch. When we visited Bhagini (women's mental institute) we got to interact with the women there very closely. We actually conversed with them, which was really helpful for me because I have always wanted to volunteer at a mental institute. I have always had a passion for working with kids and people with mental illnesses like autism, dyslexia and more. As a group, since we visited Baxi Punch, we got so close to the kids; it was so hard for us to leave them.

The camp also had wonderful food including: Paneer Makhani, Pav Bhaji, and Pani Puri. Even though the last week we had khichadi, it was the effort that the people put in for us that counted. The cooks made special food for us, which was so delicious. If worst came to worst we could just visit the canteen where there was samosas, masala dhosa, utapam, and more. There are also desserts and drinks such as ice cream and limca, etc. Overall, Muni Seva Ashram has given me an experience of a lifetime. I would definitely suggest this camp to anyone confused about making decisions for his or her career like I was. Even if you do not want to pursue a career in the medical field, you will find many other things that you can enjoy at this camp.