January 19, 2024
Why are we here?
This is a question I keep asking myself. So far it seems like we have spent most of our days riding the bus, visiting new places, meeting inspiring people, and learning things I never thought I needed to know. It is all very exciting. Except for the bus part. But why are we doing all of this?
Sometimes I feel like just another tourist hiding behind the excuse that I’m a student studying abroad while Julian, Kaylea, Zannoon, Sneha, and Ashutosh work relentlessly to pamper me by arranging bus rides, meetings, food, accommodations, translations and so much more behind the scenes while I sit back and soak it all up. It feels all too easy for me, but honestly, I don’t know what I would do without their crucial support. But now Julian and Ashutosh have left us, and it doesn’t feel the same without them. They will be sincerely missed.
Today we took a long drive to a well-established farm (Sri Bhagyalakshmi Farms). I really didn’t know why we were going to a farm; I was just along for the bus ride. With some of the places we’ve been visiting lately, I keep getting the feeling that we are just invading someone’s property without them even knowing we are coming over. In any case, we got dropped and began climbing these people’s trees like monkeys who we have yet to meet. But let’s be honest, that tree was begging to be climbed. I swear Kaylea secretly waited for every last one of us to get up in that tree to see the reactions on our faces before announcing that there was actually a snake up there. And of course, we all freaked out and scrambled out of the tree like it was another spicy Indian dish.
Next, we swung over to visit an exotic aquarium and a small establishment of wild animals and puppies. This was actually a lot of fun and much-needed to rejuvenate our spirits after some dreadful last few days of being sick and constantly cramming our heads with new knowledge. After that, we found ourselves on an endless walk through a variety of ginormous plant nurseries. It felt so peaceful here I didn’t want to leave. All I needed was a napping hammock and my life would be complete. Then, we had a tractor ride while sipping coconuts to visit a dairy farm establishment. It was heartwarming to see happy and healthy cows for the first time in India who were safe to pet. This whole time we are following along with no explanation of why we were doing these things. In the end, however, we did learn how this was a sustainable biogas facility that converts waste and cow manure into usable methane which was pretty cool.
It’s difficult to think about why are we here at the farm and in India in general. This is the Grand Challenges Impact Lab but it doesn’t feel like I am making much of an impact. I’m beginning to question what I even came here for. But then again, this is just the beginning. We have only just made it past the two-week mark with eight more to go. And we haven’t even started working with our organizations yet which is coming up in just a few days. Maybe that’s when the answer to this question will begin to have more meaning. Maybe I don’t need to know the answer. Or maybe I’m already doing enough just by being here.
By Matt
