I volunteered in Monsoon Musings as part of the seva cafe in which I had to cook bruschetta with a group assigned to us and serve to the guests that came. The money collected was donated to an NGO, ‘ Friends with Tails’ and to an organization for missing girls. During this experience I did not only have fun but i got to learn something new like how to do last minute jobs and i also got a little more closer to my classmates as I had to talk to them quite often. I was very happy that I participated in this event as it was a fabulous experience.

The learning outcomes I achieved during my involvement in this event:

• LO1: Spending time with a group of people during the seva cafe made me recognize my strengths and weaknesses. It made me realize that working in a group requires a lot of communication and i can’t work by myself or take decisions solely and I have to ask for opinions of the others in the group.

• LO2: While participating in the seva cafe a few hurdles came across which as a group we had to pass. As i was part of the seva cafe, my only job was to take care of the food assigned to our group but since a lot of last minute chores were left like the decorations, i also had to help a bit for that. This taught me how to handle last minute situations which were not supposed to be done by me but since we were a group it was easier. Another challenge that came across was that one of our team members who had our main ingredients did not end up coming, but we handled the situation as a group. This again taught me that handling last minute problems can be tough but if you’re in a group that works together, it can be possible and easier to handle. 

• LO4: As the event was on a Saturday, a day on which we don’t have school, i had to commit myself to go to school and cook. The group in which I had to work with, we all had a lot of different opinions on the recipes of the food and how we should cook so it was quite hard to come to a single conclusion. We all were very persistent that we will have to work in a group and can’t do anything without the whole group agreeing to it but as a member of our group was absent it made it a bit difficult but we still got through it and I think we did a great job.

• LO5: As i said before working collaboratively in a group was a wonderful experience even though we faced a few issues. A problem we faced was that the members of my group, including me had different opinions and different ways to cook so coming to a single conclusion took time. Even though there were a few small problems, I think working in a group is better than working by myself as I had company and help whenever I needed it. I enjoy working in a group as i can learn things from others and can get to know each other more. I think without teamwork we wouldn;t have been able to complete our part of the event successfully. 

• LO6: The seva cafe was organized to raise money for donations. The money raised was donated to an NGO (Friends with Tails) and for a Missing Girls project. Friends with Tails is an organization for stray animals, specifically dogs and the Missing Girls project is a social awareness campaign for girls which is aimed at girls who are trafficked for sex exploitation. Helping or treating stray dogs is an important issue, especially in India  that needs to be solved soon and human trafficking is a very astonishing activity that happens all around the world. Both these issues need to be solved for a better world and a more peaceful one. Being part of starting a small change feels great, i was very happy that participating in a small event can raise money for the need. 

Volunteering in this event gave me an opportunity to learn from others, it taught me skills of working collaboratively and improved my communication skills. Doing something so small for these global issues has made me very proud of myself and happy as I never expected myself to do something so minute that can be a small contribution to global issues like these. During the event I developed the learner profile characteristics like open-minded, communicators and caring If given a chance i would love to do something like this again, hopefully in the future i will.