Research and innovation project
February – March 2016
“I went to Kolkata as a volunteer and I spent there a month, from 26th of February to 27th March. This experience taught me a lot from the human point of view as well as allowing me to collect some material for my thesis. During my stay in India I met other volunteers coming from all over the world and I met a lot of Indian people, especially the women and the children hospitalised at the Institute for Indian Mother and Child. The living conditions in this area are not so easy: it is not easy to find food and I had been ill for a couple of days, even though I had had all the necessary vaccinations. However, despite the initial difficulties I can say that I have had the most wonderful and intense experience of my life. Now that I am back in Milan I miss the feeling I had while I was there: that of feeling important for somebody. In India, even if you work just for an hour, you feel like you have really done something good and useful. I will always remember the smile I saw on the children’s faces: without saying a word they teach you that happiness can be found in the simplest things, even in the most difficult situations. I suggest to future volunteers to appreciate every single moment you are going to spend in Kolkata and I hope one day to be able to go back there to see what kind of progress has been made.”
Michela
