Senegal, South Africa
Senegal, South Africa
Have you seen Taken? Well if you have then you’d know why I didn’t choose Europe for my social internship. I choose South Africa. This wasn’t a pleasure trip I wanted to add to my CV, so I took up a rural upliftment assignment in Africa, that required me to help kids and the villages.
Well, a lot of people asked me, ‘Why not help in India?’. But, this was my chance to escape. I packed my shorts, a bikini for my summer time chilling and lots of dresses for night outs in the main city.
I got of the airport, waiting for a chauffeur driven car, what I got instead, was a reality check.
Me and other 5 volunteers sat in the back of a jeep and drove to a place called Senegal. I used my expensive dresses as a floor mat to sleep in huts with families of local villagers, my shorts were drenched in sweat after a days work, my bikinis became underwear when I ran out of clean ones. I did meet a man, his name was Akua, he would smile at me each time he saw me, his mother would feed me everyday and he’d try to talk to me,e evn though we didn’t understand each other’s language.
I spend my 20 days laying under the stars with 8-year-old Akua and his friends along with other volunteers. I came to a village with 8 huts and left it with 25. I came with a dream to experience Africa like a tourist and I left feeling like one of their own.
I landed back home and tore up my CV, I already knew what I wanted to do with my life.
Today I run 8 NGO’s across India and 5 in Africa. And guess who heads all operations in Africa? Well, you already know
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