Younsters from New Jersey volunteer at College for the Blind, Hyderabad, AP, India

My name is Akhil Chandra, I am a sophmore at Freehold High School and I volunteered at the Netra Vidyalaya(free for the Blind and Visually challenged ) Blind College at Shamshabad, Hyderabad, AP, India. I went to India over the summer after I completed my freshman year and while I was staying in India, I stayed at the college for the blind for about 2 weeks. I volunteered because I wanted to help out the students in some way, make a contribution to them on my part..

The students there are hard workers and I was amazed at the potential and capabilities that they possessed. The campus was supplied with a computer lab, classrooms, living quarters, a cafeteria, and an office. Also, each student was given a stylus, paper, slate, and any other supplies that they needed for school. The campus also provided its students with food, dorms, basic medical services and any other products that the students required.

Each morning the day started off with morning slokas and I was there along with my friend Bharani to observe and learn them. Afterwards, the students went through classes until 4pm and then I helped them during their computer classes and I gave classes of my own on English and World History as well. I gave classes to the first and second year college students on how to speak English in western style and information on WW1 and WW2. However, during the course of the day when there were intervals between classes or after classes, I used to sit hours at times and just talk to students about my life in America and my school and friends.

Opposite the college was the temple and next to that was the Main HQ of the area. The temple is breathtaking in sight and has three levels and the main office provided me with access to the internet. So, I was never more than a little walk away from my online social life.

The quarters that we were provided with had a new bed, a cooler, a table and metal shelf. So, I was taken care of very well and was give anything that I required. There was not a single problem associated with the food, quarters, or anything else. Our stay was enjoyable and I got very connected with the students. We were together for so long that the day I left, they started crying and asking when I would come back. Even I got emotional because I was leaving friends that I stayed with for so long. My stay at the college was a great life experience and made me much more mature. After doing the service, I felt really good because I was able to help so many people.

- Akhil Chandra (Sophomore)

It had all started this year, near mid 2009 when my mother told me about VT Seva, a non-profit organization that serves the impoverished and blind children (the cause we volunteered for) by empowering them through free education. She told me this when Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, CEO of VT Seva had arrived in NJ. So with my curiosity, I asked him if I could volunteer in India as I would be going there anyway to spend my summer vacation.  He gave the volunteer sign-up site to my mom and I invited Akhil to join me since he would be going to India and soon after that, we ended up at Sri Ramanagram, Hyderabad, AP, India 

It was a quiet place, far from any loud city noises and pollution, and felt like a peaceful village. We finished our tour of premises with the help of SriKrishnaji, and we went off to the college for blind. At first, we felt unsure about staying in our room; we were in another country, in a place around 2 hours from our homes, with people we didn't know around us. But, we adjusted... Sort of. We had arrived on Tuesday, when all the students had time off from their classes, and were playing outside. As you may know, Saturday and Sunday are the days we have off in the US, so we were accustomed to this. We went to a few of the kids and got introduced to them by Raviji and Kalyanji. Both of these men were nice, and fun to be around with, so our stay at the Ashram was not too serious. 

Starting from the next day onwards, we were interacting with the students more and more. We found out their names, where they came from (a few from my Mom and Dad's native places) and other facts including what they like and who they want to be like. This was an interesting day, but our work started from here. The days after this, we told them about America, that is, since we were the first people to volunteer there from US. And the students actually liked listening to our butchered up Telugu (native local language)! We had lots of fun trying to talk with them because our Telugu was poor. Jokes finished our day and we started to bond with the guys (the girls at the school spoke little but as we would find out knew a lot). 

The next few days, we spent organizing notes for the students to have on American history, or pretty much about Political America. They listened intently and took notes, some with Braille and others in English. We soon finished our class and we went to their computer classes and helped them out there; we had been doing this since day two. 

As our trip was coming to an end, we left the school with a lot of help on a machine that would assist them in finding out maps and other charts. Lastly, we attended their function, which was for the 1st batch of students who graduated by appearing for final exams on laptops. We said bye to the students with good memories. The ones whom we spent 2 weeks with in their school, playing cricket, cracking jokes, teaching subjects, and most of all sharing a friendship will be there with us for a long time.

 A little anecdote (me and Ramesh - full-blind student there):

 "Ramesh, what are you doing this late at night walking around? Its dark, go into your room, you should be scared!"

"Anna (Brother), I'm reading a book since I can’t fall asleep; the darkness and light have no effects on me, except for the fact that one is hot and the other is not"

- Bharani Puskur (Sophomore)