International Exchanges Programme

After arriving to Mumbai, our group of students from Open Gate with co-operation of the students from DAIS, we went to the village of Kumbharghar in the region of Maharashtra. During the drive to the village, we were introduced to the time plan about what we were to do in the village. After arrival, we had to carry around 300 heavy bricks from one end of the village to another. We had to get it to a place where a new house was being built. The distance between these two places was approximately 500 meters and to transport the bricks most efficiently, we decided to create a chain of all our members so every member would carry just small distance before carrying another brick. After the bricks were on the building site, I started to help one villager with preparing cement for building foundations for his house and helped to apply the cement on the building. The next day was really similar as the first one, firstly carrying bricks again and then again getting to prepare the cement. After two days of work I have seen significant results of my work. With my contribution, we have built foundation for a house and also understood the mentality of the villagers. The local villagers for me seemed uninterested in the beginning and seemed that they did not require much help, they did think of us as not trustworthy. Through the 2 days I am sure this changed, the villagers trusted us more and were satisfied with our work. Apart from that, they seemed to be keen on their traditions and even though they spoke different language, we could communicate easily when discussing basic things about work.

After work was done in Kumbarghar, it was time to move to another village. We travelled to Matheran, to be close to Hassachipatti, which was our village where we were supposed to help next. In contrast to Kumbarghar, in Hassachipati we were not supposed to help physically, but to help entertain children from the local school. The children were between 4 to 11 years of age and we prepared many activities to entertain them, as well as teach them new things. We taught them counting in English up to 5 through games, involving thinking as well as running activities. The children were very different from the little children in Europe. We found they additionally humble and paid a lot of respect to us as newcomers. There was not a single kid that disrespected us. They were patient and always waited for instructions. All the games we presented entertained them and there was no sign of the children not enjoying our presence.

We left these villages with satisfaction by providing good work, but also felt sad as we would like to stay in the villages longer, as the local people were able to appreciate our work which motivated us to contribute even more.

- THE OPEN GATE STUDENTS, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Our journey to the Czech Republic started off with high spirits, chatter and excitement. The prospect of exploring a completely new culture and completely new lifestyle left us all jittery and just a tad bit nervous.The first thing that really struck us was the cold; ten Bombay kids trying to tackle the completely alien phenomena of weather that went below 30 degrees ( -8 degrees to be precise) and snowfall was a sight to behold;;.

Over the weekend, we toured Prague; a city characterised by it’s rich history, culture and awe inspiring architecture. Exploring the city through it’s narrow cobbled lanes, victorian bridges and baroque paintings was a bonding experience none of us are likely to forget. We also visited a traditional restaurant where the vegetarians contemplated all their life decisions while we gorged on Czech delicacies that were dominated by meat.

Through the week, we stayed in the dormitories at the Open Gate School which is located in the quaint town of Babice. This is where we truly felt the culture shock. From sharing a bathroom with four people to wake up calls to roommates that sleep talk, this small dosage of what college life promises to be was truly eye-opening. The sheer independence and maturity each student held shamed us all as we vowed to be more responsible. Attending the IB classes at the school was our comfort zone, smiling at the familiar frustrations in an otherwise unfamiliar world.

A highlight of the trip was the “Food Festival” where we cooked Indian food for the entire school and the Czech students made us a traditional Czech dinner. We were delighted with the opportunity to share some of our favourite treats with them. Although we were extra cautious with the spice, they were still overwhelmed by it.

On a more sombre note, we visited Terezin, a concentration camp under the Nazi regime. This experience opened our eyes to the unpleasant history of the second world war and as our hosts shared stories of their family members being persecuted, some of us were brought to tears.

If I had to sum up the exchange in one word, it would definitely be enlightening. It exposed us to culture, history and lifestyle that led to introspection and growth towards us as individuals.

On the 12th of March, 2016, in the early hours of the morning, eight nervous students and two teachers boarded a flight to the Czech Republic, ready to spend two weeks in an exciting new place, getting back in touch with the friends we had made in October, and learning about a culture completely different from our own.

For the first two days of our trip, we lived with our host families, some of us living with students we had already met before, and some with students that we were meeting for the first time. In our enthusiasm, even the most mundane things about daily Czech life, such as the slate roofing that covers nearly all small buildings in the country, or the trams that thread through the cities, surprised and excited us. The manner in which our friends led their lives, too, was a novelty: everything from being comfortable walking around the city and travelling across the country completely alone to simply the way in which they go about their mornings at home was different, differences that we wouldn’t have expected given the similarities we were able to find in our personalities and theirs.

Our astonishment only increased when we moved from living in their homes to staying at their boarding school, the Open Gate Primary and Grammar School. Virtually none of us had ever lived in a boarding school environment, much less one situated in a small European town where the students ranged from being extremely culturally aware to barely knowing anything about India. Thus, we learned not only from the events we took part in, but also learned a lesson in independence as we spent a week living, for the first time, all on our own.

As for what we did: from touring nearby cities and trying local treats, to teaching nursery school kids how to dance to Bollywood music, we spent our trip learning about Czech culture as well as teaching about our own. In Prague, we visited an Easter market to try local dishes such as the trdelnik, a type of sugar-coated pastry, and learned a bit of Czech history as we stood in Wenceslas Square, where Jan Palach burnt himself in protest of the communist invasion in 1969. In Kutna Hora, one of the oldest towns in the Czech Republic, a UNESCO World Heritage site, we visited the Sedlec Ossuary, a small church decorated by bones, and tried Czech cuisine at a small café.

One of our days, perhaps the most tiring and informative of them all, was spent building a playhouse for village children. We started the project from scratch, even planning how the house would be built and taking apart wooden pallets to repurpose the wood for the house. Another day was spent with the students from Open Gate’s primary school. We visited their classes and conducted fun activities, such as teaching them to write their names in Hindi, through which we hoped to teach them about India. One of our most enjoyable experiences of the trip was getting the chance to participate in their “Morning Oasis” activity, where they started their day by reading and singing. To our surprise, the song they sang was a Czech version of our own Hum Honge Kamyaab! Later that day, we were able to introduce the students of Open Gate to some Indian cuisine, and cooked a number of dishes from different parts of India, while our Czech friends cooked us some of their own favourite Czech foods.

We were lucky enough to get the chance to participate in a special event at their school, Tolerance Day. The aim of the event was to improve the students' cultural awareness by having speakers representing major world religions come in and teach the students a little bit about their respective religion. Bhuvam Patel and I were asked to be the representatives for Hinduism, while Ms. Kavita represented Christianity. As the presenter for Hinduism, while giving my presentation, I found that I was able to learn more about the way in which India and Hinduism is viewed abroad, and from the discussions we conducted after our presentation, I found that I could gain an insight into the Czech mentality.

All in all, the Indo-Czech exchange trip was one of the most enjoyable and educational experiences I have had. Not only did I get to experience a new culture and lifestyle, but I also got to learn more about myself and my own culture by contrast. It will always be a highlight of my life in the IB, and I hope that the memories and friends I made will stay with me forever.

The Educational & Cultural Exchange between DAIS & the Open Gate School in the Czech Republic is in its fourth year and continues to be an extremely enriching experience for both schools. This year, a group of 7 Czech students spent two weeks here, getting to know our local culture, our students and participating actively in our CAS Service initiative, the Village Development Project.

The visit to Mumbai kicked off with a tour of the city, delving into the history and evolution of the structure, the architecture and some of the more quintessential ‘Bombay’ experiences. From the steamy rooms of Dhobi Ghat to the peaceful Walkeshwar temple, the group was shown a cross-section of the city.

A hectic week on the Village Project was up next; three days spent in Kumbharghar and two in Matheran. It was evident that hard work and stamina were not alien to the kids, seeing as how they worked tirelessly despite coming into the October heat from a country that was a full 30 degrees colder than ours!

Once we were back in the city, the Czech students went off to stay with their Indian hosts, and had a chance to really immerse themselves in the daily goings-on of life on this side of the world.

One of our students, Bhuvam Patel, who was hosting a Czech student had the following to say about the experience:

“Hosting the delegation from The Open Gate School, Prague was not only a cultural exchange but also a platform for building new friendships. We were all initially very shy with the Czech who were traveling out of Europe for the first time. Personally I have been a big fan of European history and was excited to get to know more from the historical aspect as well as show India to them in a small duration of time.

I was humbled by their efforts in the village where the worked harder than any other group I have ever taken and gave me a whole new outlook on the way I perceived Europeans. Also I was very happy to know that they earned money to pay their trip to India, which was something I really respected about the Czech mentality which believed in hardwork, humility and perseverance. Speaking more about our cultures, we agreed that there were many similarities and many differences in our lifestyle. It was truly an amazing experience taking them out to see the various parts and shades of Mumbai and get feedback from them as to how they looked at India and Indians as a whole.

Adam, who was my exchange student became a part of my family in the week that he was here. He was one of the most insightful people that I had ever met and shared so many similarities with me even though we lived in completely polar environments. The Czech trip brought me closer to different kinds of people with whom I never really interacted with before. Overall, this celebration of two cultures was an enriching and wonderful experience, one that I will forever cherish.”