Ours and Yours - The Blog

Experience India is a structured immersion programme, which provides students with an opportunity to develop personal leadership skills in a foreign culture through working with those at the margins of society.

The purpose of the trip is to:

·                     Expose students to the experience of living in a different culture

·                     Provide opportunities for the students to work with those at the margins of society

·                     Visit the historical sites in India of international fame

·                     Explore the cultural history of a contrasting people

·                     Develop an understanding of one’s role in a global world

The Details

Duration:                             4 December 2017 – 4 January 2018

Group Composition:           22 students (Form 5-7 in 2017)

Programme Staff

Mr Reuben McGregor-Sumpter 

Mr Tom Rapson

Mr Shane Jordan

Mr Mark Crook

Programme Participants

Callan	Adams
Richard	Boswell
Rowan	Burns
Roni	Chapman
Michael	Derevianko
Lachlan	Dickson
Ryan	Donovan
Josh	Hamilton
Miller	Hawkesby
Matthew	Illing
Benjamin	Lerner
Sam	Lindberg
Cameron	Macfarlane
Zachary	Morrow
William	Pretty
Nikau	Reti-Beazley
Joshua	Roberts
Ollie	Schnauer
George	Skinner
Leo	Smith
Aaron	Wyllie
Raymond	Zhou

Rewind back 18 months and applications were closing for this, the fifth Auckland Grammar School India Immersion Programme.

                                                         

Fast forward to today and the time has come.

Yesterday the group completed their final preparations for what shapes as a significant formative experience that they are about to undertake. The highlights of this Preparation Day included:

* A large group reflection where the participants shared their life stories, including the key events, personalities and lessons contributing to where they stand today.
* Trading/swapping/begging with members of the Auckland public in Newmarket- starting with one simple ballpoint pen they had to trade for an item that was bigger or better- the outcomes included a a palm tree, $50, a set of tea china, a cat's house, and the use of a pool for the evening (go figure). I look forward to reminding the boys of  the persuasive antics that they used during this activity when they get fed up with the beggars of India.

  

There are now less than 24 hours before everyone is expected to arrive at the Auckland International Airport.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this blog-site over the next 30 days.  It will record the thinking and feelings that are stirred up within each of us as we journey across a beautifully contrasting landscape, interacting with the people of India that will guide us in a process of self-discovery.

From this point onwards, we will let our words, not photos, paint the picture of our journey, as we challenge you the readers to create photographic images in your own mind of what we are experiencing.

Reuben