Today was important for the group as it was the first opportunity we had to see first hand what all of our hard work and the kind donations we had received had contributed towards.When we arrived, we were greeted by many members of the village, numerous women presented us with bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons, and the boys got garlands. We then followed a procession of young children, all in their uniform playing a variety of instruments. The group leaders and members of Sarvodaya cut the ribbon to the three entrances, and the whole community went inside.
I think the group were shocked at how much time and effort had been put into not only the building itself, but into the decoration inside by the children and the teachers it really was incredible to be able to see our fundraising coming to life. It turns out the building was a two-storey building, thus allowing the top floor to be used as a bank, we were informed later that the bank had taken 1 million rupees on its first day!
We then went outside, where the villagers were careful to make sure we were all sat in the shade, it was so hot! There were numerous performances by villagers of all ages, both singing and dancing which were brilliant to watch. Speeches were made by the leaders of our team, greatfully expressing our thanks at the hospitality we had received, whilst members of the community and Sarvodaya officers expressed their thanks for the contributions of the group-the villagers had in fact bought the plot of land, and our group had raised the money that they needed to construct the building, so it really was a team effort, and hopefully the start of a mutual exchange of ideas, resources and cultures. With the welcome we received today, we can’t wait to start our programme next week!