By Harrison Hinton

Being one of the first people to arrive in the village of Aghora, I was lucky in the sense that I got to explore and be acclimated before the others. I got to learn names and get used to living here, being a small part of this community. I hadn’t expected the village to be so high up, but that just adds to its charm. Nestled in the side of a mountain, Aghora boasts bright colored houses and very hospitable people. The food here is very filling, and very healthy.

After arriving here, something I quickly noticed is just how true the concept of “small circle” is that we had talked about prior to coming. “Small Circle” relates to the idea that not many resources come from other places, or in other words, the village has a very small ecological footprint. In the instance of Aghora, something that is readily apparent is the fact that everything here seems more natural, or healthy. Nearly all of the food they eat is grown here, and that is just one example of how self sufficient this village is. Being healthier, along with having a sustainable lifestyle, are positive benefits of having a small circle lifestyle.

Being so self sufficient comes at a cost though. People here work very hard in order to provide themselves with what they need. The work ethic among this community is outstanding, and I am not entirely sure that there is a place to compare it to. The skills, knowledge, and strength needed to keep the community going is amazing. For example, right before dinner today I took the bamboo off the shoulders of a woman walking through the village. I assumed this job wouldn’t require much — that it would be light and easygoing. I quickly learned otherwise. With 80lbs of bamboo on my shoulders, and sweat dripping from my forehead, I managed to walk half the village with the bamboo. I later learned that the group of women we stopped had left the village at 5 am, traveled 12 miles up the mountain to 12,000 feet elevation, and had walked back down carrying that load. Then it hit me just how insanely strong the people of Aghora are.

This has got me thinking of other ways that this village has stayed in a “small circle” feeling, but that is something that I might need to ponder throughout these next 10 days. A question that I have put upon myself to try to answer is this: “ what methods of sustainability and “small circle” living can I take away from Aghora? And how can I apply that to my life back in America?”