This post is about a bountiful trip to Kenchenpalya, approximately 60 kilometers from Bangalore, and an ex-project area of CSA (now an exposure site).
As planned earlier, a trip was held to Kenchenpalya on the 29th of September, Saturday, under the leadership of senior CSA volunteers Geeta, Elizabeth and Thomas. The trio were planning an Information Activity Camp, about their 10 month stay in Norway, for the CSA volunteers. They were part of the Sund Folk College-CSA, Christ College exchange programme, conducted every year, in which CSA volunteers were sent to Norway, and students of Sund Folk College came to India, for cultural, political, economic, and general exposure.
The trip started at 2 PM, with a Christ School bus filled with 30 CSA volunteers, and a driver, (:D) embarking from the Dharmaram Vidyakshetram. After around two hours, we reached Kenchenpalya, and crik-tea (which was a mixture of Cricket and Tea. We were planning to play cricket, but during the game many of the players kept running off to have tea). A few volunteers took time off from both tea, and cricket, to explain to the Norwegian exchange participants about cricket, and its rules. After a small session of cricket, the group got together in the Assembly room, in the small CSA campus in Kenchenpalya, to mark the beginning of the Information Activity Camp. Geeta and Elizabeth started off (Thomas, owing to a bad cold, did not participate in seminars) and gave the group a very good view of what Fredskorpset was, what the exchange programme was all about, and the socio-political conditions in Norway. They also gave a brief outline about the history of Norway. Every talk was intercepted by a fun activity.
We had dinner, and Elizabeth gave a presentation on her research topic, Cerebral Palsy. After a short talk, and discussion, a fun session of dance followed, wherein Geeta, Elizabeth and Thomas got together to teach the rest of the gang, the Norwegian folk dance, and the CSA dance. After all the dancing, the group decided to call it quits for the day, and had a good(*ahem*) sleep.
Early(*ahem again*) next morning the group had breakfast, and set off on a village walk. We walked and hiked through small paths until we reached a village, which was once a project area of CSA. We interacted with the villagers and headed back.
Later, Geeta took over the group and gave her research seminar on Trade Union Culture. A review session followed. Finally, after a clean up, we had a fun throw-balloon match. After lunch, we started our return journey, to our sweet commencing point, Christ College.
So overall, it was a great trip, with all the volunteers returning with a lot more in their grey matter, and having a lot more stories to relate. 🙂
Thank you Geeta, Elizabeth (Eli chechi 🙂 ) and Thomas for this wonderful trip. Also thank you for imparting all the knowledge and information. Also thanks to CSA, and the Management of Christ College. Special thanks to our bus driver. Last, but never the least, thanks to God Almighty for the safe and enjoyable trip.
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