Key points
- Ari, 12 years old and his family from Australia became the first family to stay a couple of nights at Ikaki Bagh.
- This was part of a family holiday to experience other cultures in developing countries and to travel without smartphones.
- This is Ari’s story, in his own words.
Hi, my name is Ari and I live in Canberra, Australia. I travelled to Ikaki Bagh in January 2019 with my parents and Zac, my brother who is ten years old.
When my parents told me, we would be travelling to India, I had no idea what to expect. I wondered how different it would be, and would it be safe.
Before we left, Mum and Dad started a fundraiser for Ikaki Bagh. Our original target was $1000. In the end we raised $3440 from friends and family! My brother and I even donated a month’s worth of pocket money.
Some of the money has been spent on school supplies for the kids at the local school near Ikaki Bagh. The rest of the money is being held to support two building projects. A Learning Centre at Ikaki Bagh or a proper toilet block at the school.
Our India adventure began in Jaipur where we stayed with our host Jaideo at his home, Ikaki Niwas. We did lots of sightseeing in the beautiful ‘Pink City’ (Jaipur’s nickname). We visited Amber Fort, Tiger Fort, Jaipur Observatory, Winter and Summer Palace, City Palace, and the Palace of the Winds! We also visited a temple where lots of monkey live. It was great fun!
After three days in Jaipur we left for Ikaki Bagh which was fun driving through the countryside.
On the way, we stopped at stationery and clothing stores to buy supplies for the school and village with some of the money we had raised. We bought pencils, school books, geometry sets, jumpers and kites (because the special kite festival was coming up).
Here are the interesting and exciting things that happened at Ikaki Bagh:
- We visited the school where we gave out the jumpers and stationery. The students were very happy to receive them.
- The kids couldn’t get enough of my brother and me! They spoke quite good English, like ‘hello’, ‘what is your name?’, ‘how are you?’, and ‘thank you’. I taught them a little more!
- After the school, we went to the nearby village where the kids were also arriving home.
- We handed out the kites, which the kids loved!
- We visited some interesting local homes and had a dance in one!
- We met the chief of the village who gave us red dots on our foreheads.
- We played catch and flew kites with the village kids.
- Finally, we said goodbye, and headed back to Ikaki Bagh
- All in the one day (best day ever!!)
India was great fun and perfectly safe. The food was delicious! Some of the best food I’ve ever had (and if you were wondering, the Indian restaurants you may have been to are no match for Indian food in India!).
Overall, I highly recommend visiting Ikaki Bagh. The experience will change your life forever, and if you donate, you will change others’ lives forever.
