India.  Country of contrast.  Poverty.  Wealth.  Death.  Life.  Repulsiveness.  Beauty.  How could any person who visited or lived in this country really describe the awe-inspiring experience they endured?  Some may see it as enduring, others a treat.  Regardless, the country of India has an undeniable effect on whoever steps on her soil.  My experience began in November of 2006.

    It is amazing how much another person’s attitude can influence you to try new things.  Emily, the eccentric girl across the hall from me, easily piqued my interest in a project she just took part in during the previous summer.  She talked all about India and the people, places, sights, smells, and sounds.  Needless to say, my adventure began as I filled out my application for the India Housing Project and began my long journey of arriving in India to complete ten houses for total strangers that may have never before seen a white man.
    The months before our group was planning on departing from America were quite tedious.  We spent many days devising clever ways to raise money so we might be able to actually participate in the project.  We also had the somewhat intimidating task of making friends with our teammates via internet conversations.  Here is where my path diverges from the others.  As far as preliminary discussions go, my group was very receptive.  I was online quite often and was able to chat with them frequently.  We became friends without ever meeting each other and this played a vital role in my journey to India as a whole.
    I had the unfortunate opportunity to experience the real difficulty of entering the country of India.  Two months before I was due to leave the country to arrive in Belgium, I began to panic about not having a VISA to enter India.  I actually drove to Washington, D.C. to personally retrieve my passport from the Indian Embassy, and I went to Europe without a VISA and with only a small hope that I would be able to join the rest of my group members in India.  This is where my first conversations with my group really helped out.  Everyone felt terrible that I was having so much trouble getting my passport, so they were all very willing to reduce my stress while in Europe by opening their houses to me.  Right as we got off of the plane and into Brussels, Vincent, the program leader, took me to the Indian Embassy and helped me to apply for a VISA while in Brussels.  Somehow, I was able to get my VISA, so I was able to spend the rest of my time in Europe eagerly awaiting the plane ride to India rather than the return flight to America.
    I had a lot of time to build my relationship with my group while in Europe, but of course I was still quite nervous about venturing to a foreign land with a large group of people that infrequently speak my only language and then even further isolating myself by traveling to a village where hardly anyone would speak my language.  I am a quite vocal person, so the thought of a month of silence was bothering me.  So, as my group members will tell you, I made my best effort to learn as much of French and Tamil as I could.  India has taught me that communication is vital to survive.
    So, the whole tired lot of us arrived in Bangalore at two in the morning and walked outside to finally get some fresh air.  Wow!  The smell nearly knocked me over.  It was incredible how strong it was, but even more incredible just how fast I grew accommodated to the scent.  We all hopped into two different, extremely cramped busses, and began our first of many long rides across the Indian countryside.  For some reason I was unable to sleep, so I think I was one of the first people to experience the beauty of India when the sun rose.  The mountains literally surrounded us as we drove along sometimes smooth, bust mostly patchy and bumpy roads to wind our way to a stopping point.  Here we split and the two Salem groups continued on to our villages.  My group was the last to arrive, and we were completely exhausted.  Our village, Kunna Malai, was by far the most rural of any of the groups; I personally loved this aspect of my adventure.  Isolation was something that I was hoping to encounter while I was halfway around the world from my home.  India showed me that being alone provides many excellent opportunities to reflect on what is really important in life.
    Our first week in the village was quite interesting.  We took the first Sunday to explore the area, visit the closest village to find a telephone to call home, and to recuperate from our long travel.  We eagerly arrived at the village on Monday to see that only two workers were there.  We were all disenchanted by this realization, as well as the condition of the houses.  Serious work needed to take place and two workers and nine volunteers were not even close to sufficient.  However, I had one hell of a time the first day.  Peter and Ambrose were the two carpenters that were working on constructing the roof of one of the few houses with a completed foundation.  Everyone warned us that the workers would not be open to letting us help because they would feel that, being white, we were above them in society and caste.  It was true.  They were very unsure about our group being in the village and trying to help, but I was not about to waste my time there just watching them construct the houses so I jumped right in and took a saw from the hands of Peter and sat next to Ambrose to begin working.  Once they saw that I was serious they put me to work all day.  It was great!  Ambrose taught me how to count as we sawed twenty four pieces of palm trees to later become rafters for a house.  The work began to get more intense and the villagers were more willing to let us aid them.  I became very good friends with all of them because I really tried to do every kind of work at one time or another.  I was a carpenter, a painter, and a mason.  I had plenty of different experiences on the work site that really made me realize how much a person is really able to do once he gets the proper motivation.  Believe me, seeing the condition of the village of Kunna Malai would be plenty to motivate anyone to help these people.  India taught me that being open-minded is an essential way to learn and successfully immerse myself in a new situation or culture.
    Our group rapidly developed into a close bunch of people.  We began to talk more and more intimately and to open up about aspects of our lives that many others may not know about.  I feel that we even began to depend upon each other to motivate the group to succeed in completing the work we came to do.  We all agreed very early on that our first priority would be work and that fun was secondary.  We really lived up to this commitment toward the end of our time in the village.  I feel that the last week was the best part of the journey in India.  We returned from our second weekend of visiting cities and traveling around India to see that, going into the final week of work, we would not be able to get all of the work complete unless we worked very hard as a team.  We had to push the priest in our village to order supplies and get extra men to work because none of the houses were complete.  To make things go as smoothly as we could we all agreed to work not only for four hours in the morning, but to also return to work for another four hour shift in afternoon.  It was absolutely magical.  We started to notice progress, but things were happening very slowly.  On the Wednesday of that week, Nicolas, another chaperone for the groups, visited our village to see how far along we were. He came with Mattieu and they stayed for the night.  Nicolas was very comforting to us as we explained that leaving the village with houses incomplete was something that no one in our group was really ready to do.  He assured us that the work would be done regardless of our presence, but we all felt that it would be so much more meaningful to see the finished product rather than leave work to be done while we toured India and had fun.  So, we kicked it into high gear and worked very long days on Thursday and Friday.  We ended up painting one last house in the dark on Friday night and then had the Inauguration ceremony on Saturday.  At this point Nicolas returned and found himself stunned that all of the houses were done.  He later told us that he had never seen so much work completed in such a small amount of time, and this really make me feel that our group truly found a way to make the most of our stay in the village.  We worked through so many obstacles and distractions to build the houses for people in dire need, and we would not let anything get in our way to stop us from finishing.  It was such a gratifying feeling to see the smile on Nicolas’ face when he first saw all of the houses in their finished form.  India taught me to never underestimate others or myself.
  
    Now, I have yet to speak about the family that I dedicated a house to.  The house I was building was the closest to our church; it was just across the street.  Because of its location, the little boys that lived there, Velusamy, fourteen, and Danasekar, sixteen, were often over at the church visiting and playing with us.  We would often see their feeble, sick mother walking around the church cleaning up the fallen fruit and twigs that laid all over the ground.  Also, their grandfather would often be mulling around his property grinning but hardly able to stand because of his old age.  The family had a pretty sizeable plot of land where they planted many crops, but due to a severe lack of rainfall, no cotton was growing.  They literally had nothing.  When the priest decided that we would build a house for this family Velusamy and Danasekar had a father, but he died sometime between the decision and our arrival, so we were never able to meet him.  Needless to say, this family was, and still is in a lot of trouble.  We drew names one day in the village to decide who we would be dedicating a house to and I drew this family.  I started to spend a little bit more time at their house and with the children, but because they were always at the church we were already really good friends with them.  I think I really lucked out in getting this family because I had a very easy time relating to them early on.  When the priest explained to us that the mother would be dead within three months we all realized that there would be nothing for Velusamy and Danasekar to do.  They would have no parents and their grandfather was too old to work and provide for them.  As a group we decided to put our heads together and we arranged to pay for two years of technical education for Danasekar.  He is going to be a mechanic.  Hopefully when he is out of school he will have a decent job and will be able to support Velusamy through an education of his own.  They really were two children that changed my life.  I would do anything for them.  I am sure that our whole group feels the same way.  We grew very fond of their cute smiles, playful attitudes, hearty laughter, and genuine care for us.  My family taught me to never give up; perseverance is the only way to find out my true character.
 
    So, I have spoken plenty of the amazing experiences within the village that we all had as a group, but a large portion of the adventure occurred outside of the village as well.  Our last trip will be an experience that I never forget.  We decided to see as much of South India as possible with the time allotted, so it was nonstop travel for seven straight days.  We had a great time seeing the cities of Madurai, Kanniyakumari, Kovalam, Alleppey, Ooty, Mudamalai, Mysore, and Bangalore.  Earlier in the month we were also able to visit Tanjore, Trichy, Pondicherry, Mahabulipuram, and Auroville.  It was quite the tour!  We definitely had an amazing time seeing how different all of the cities were. It really proved that India is full of contrast.  I feel that our entire group was ready to leave Trichy once we arrived, but we all could have stayed in Tanjore for days because of how different it was.  I personally loved travelling to Mudamalai and taking the hikes throughout the mountains and participating in a safari.  We had the lucky chance to see plenty of wildlife such as elephants, bison, water buffalo, monkeys, peacocks, and wild boar.  Visiting all of these cities taught me that seeing the world is no longer an option, it is in fact a requirement now.
    Now, to one of the more personal subjects: my group.  I feel like we were so close the entire time in India.  Everyone was completely open to talk about whatever was on their minds, and we were all extremely focused on our task in the village, but we still had a great ability to balance the work with great fun as well.  I’m going to include a part of my journal entry from the end of our time overseas that sums up exactly how I felt and still feel about my group:
“…I really love my group. They were all so different, but we blended together so easily and quickly that we ended up having an amazing experience as happily as can be expected after spending one month with the same people.  For me, I learned so many things from the group.  From things as obvious as language lessons to subtle things such as humility, patience, an open-minded outlook on life, and respect for others, the people of my group changed my life for the better.  It was undoubtedly a bittersweet parting because I am so excited to go home and share my stories with all of my friends and family, but the people here are now my family and I know that, if I ever have any trouble, I can call Europe home as well…”
I will never forget them.  They really are my family now.  Alexia, Amandine, Anouk, Aurelie, Charlotte, Guerric, Marco, and Sophie will be friends for life.
    This project has definitely been one of the best decisions in my life.  I will never be the same because of all the amazing things I have seen.  My eyes really opened this summer as I saw how destitute some people can be.  That realization easily multiplied in effect when I started to live like them in their culture and their village.  Immersion really has amazing effects on a person.  Once I arrived in India I knew had only two options: accept my situation and embrace it wholeheartedly or constantly concern myself with the inevitable return to Europe and America.  Of course the superior option was to involve myself as much as possible while I was there which is exactly what I did.
    One great experience I gained from this project was the chance to work.  I clearly joined with this intention, but all of the other events taking place and people I interacted with overshadowed this aspect of the time I spent in India.  I have worked many times in a construction setting throughout my life.  My dad does remodeling and construction as a second job so I have spent many summers working with him on various projects ranging from fixing basements to a complete addition onto our own house in Ohio.  I have a fair amount of knowledge about the processes that take place to make the fixtures secure and safe, but there are definitely different standards in India.  It was so interesting to watch and learn how the Indian people built their houses.  Their intentions were basically survival and protection from the elements at all costs.  The way they went about constructing the houses was absolutely fascinating because of this.  The first day that we were on the site to go to work was quite an eye-opening experience!  It shocked me to see palm trees fitted into rafters and all of their extremely basic tools to complete the task at hand.  I learned a lot about the original tools used in construction from this month in India because these are the tools that all of the workers still used.  Seeing a level as I know it was extremely rare.  Instead all of the masons used bobber levels to ensure the walls were straight.  No carpenter had a power saw in his bag of tools; instead they had basic hand saws that all looked as if they could fall apart any second.  Also, the masons never ordered a cement mixer to get the right consistency in the cement mixture for the walls and floors.  Rather, they all mixed the materials by hand and shovel.  Still, they were able to build strong, sturdy buildings safe enough to house a family for years to come.  Sometimes it is refreshing to see the same product come from a completely different process.  I can take this lesson with me into the work world when the time comes.  There is always more than one way to the same solution.
    Finally, I would like to discuss the organization of the project.  Seeing as this was the project’s fourteenth summer in India, it is clear that things run smoothly despite changes every year.  I felt that this year was an excellent experience for me because of how well things ran once we got to India.  There were many regulatory levels in place, and each had a key role in the overall efficiency of the time spent in India.
    First was the organization before we left.  I feel that this was the least prepared part of the entire trip.  We had to raise money to get to India which was an absolute nightmare.  Despite excellent ideas, we were not able to get enough people to show up for our events.  We still worked very hard to produce the funds necessary, but in the end we were not able to make all of the money required.  Also, we all went into the VISA application process half-blind.  Emily mentioned in passing that it could be difficult to get a VISA, but I definitely underestimated the seriousness she tried to convey.  Two of us made mistakes on our applications.  Fortunately it was only one of us that ran into any further trouble.  Unfortunately that was me.  Regardless, we all went through our class last semester discussing what we expected to see when we arrived and how we were going to react.  Of course nothing could have given us a clearer understanding of the situation in India than actually getting out of the bus and seeing it for ourselves, but we still managed to mentally prepare for the shock we would experience.  Dr. Wainscott and Dr. Cross did a great job getting us ready for the month.
    The next aspect of the project is the group-level organization.  Our group did not have a leader because no one in our team was a returning project participant.  Rather, we were all new to this experience and we were all more than willing to roll with the punches and see what happens.  Therefore, we all sat down together and made up a game plan for how we were going to spend our time in India and what our main focus would be.  After we had some basic guidelines down we all did our best to follow them and we let everything else that was out of our control happen and we simply reacted to it in the best way possible. 
    Lastly, the adults in India that visited us regularly on behalf of ICHEC and the project were excellent boosts to our self-esteem as well as wonderful guides for the country itself.  They always had great recommendations for us of where to go, what to eat and drink, and how to interact with the villagers.  Having Mattieu, Nicolas, and Mohammed visit us was definitely a very beneficial part of our trip.  We had a chance to talk to people that were not with us all of the time and tell them how we felt about certain things that happened or were happening.  Even if we only used the adults to vent about the goings on in our village, I am very glad that they were there for us.
    Overall, the India Housing Project was an immensely rewarding experience.  When I returned to America I was eager to tell everyone that asked that the India Housing Project was the second-best decision I have made in my entire life.  My best decision was to first enroll in Clemson University.  Without Clemson, I would never have had the opportunity to experience the world in this way.  I am so happy that Clemson selected me to participate because I have gained an entirely new outlook on the world as a result of this trip that I would never have achieved by running around Europe for a few weeks.  Willingly immersing myself in a culture and learning to identify with the people of another nation really allowed me to get so much more out of this journey.  Also, the opportunity to find myself alone and in a situation where I do not have all of the amenities I have become accustomed to has taught me to live life a little simpler.  When I think about little Velusamy and his family I see four people that live life every day not knowing that there are people halfway across the world that have literally tens of thousands of dollars more in assets than they do. Yet, they live life happily.  They always had smiles on their faces and they always wanted to talk and play with us.  Participating in this project showed me that anyone can live happily if they have to do without.  Things that I once called necessities are now truly luxuries in my eyes.  I would have never been able to see this difference had I not visited India this summer.  Many call India the country of contrast, which is definitely a valid description.  However, I now like to think of India as a country of awe-inspiring wisdom.