Christchurch’s 2017 trip to the Indian subcontinent is two weeks of our curriculum in action. In our textbook style [of avoiding textbooks], as soon as we touch down we immerse ourselves in the communities, circumstances, and conflicts that will frame our journey. Our first stop is the holy city of Rishikesh [ऋषिकेश], the yoga capital of the world, where we’ll gain context and begin to garner an understanding of Ma Ganga [the Ganges River], the through line of our adventure.
From Rishikesh we travel through the circuitous highways of the Himalayas—beautiful roads punctuated by temples and farming terraces—to the Assi Ganga Valley, our home for the next week. In the valley we’ll do everything from eat with our hands with our host families to work on integrated projects that inform both our school and our Indian communities, truly bringing our Great Journeys curriculum to a real world application.
After saying goodbye-for-now to the valley, we travel down the Ganges watershed to Delhi, where we’ll board a flight to the Andaman Islands. There, we’ll wrestle with questions both global and local. We’ll spend time with environmental organizations working in Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, taking the pulse of the community and environment, further complementing the work we do back in our place.
This trip is more than just a collection of days and people and things to do; it’s an authentic exploration of one part of the world and ourselves. We have the opportunity to say yes to adventure, to embrace conflict, and to do it amongst friends, colleagues, and mentors. It really doesn’t get better than this.
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Namaste [नमस्ते], y’all.
CCS GLOBAL EDUCATION 