Hello! My name is Josiah, and I am a Grade 8 student in the Challenge Program at Calvin Park P.S., in Kingston, Ontario. I will be traveling with my family from December 12th to January 5th in the North of India, mainly in the part known as Rajasthan.
For a project at school, called Challenge for Change, students have an opportunity to choose an issue, either locally or globally, and promote this issue in their local community. My topic is Women's rights in India, because it will be interesting to observe the differences between Canada and India in terms of how women are treated. In some parts of India, gender discrimination is a very real problem.
During my time in India, I am planning to meet with the Sambhali Trust, a charity that works in Jodhpur to help underprivileged girls and women. I plan to meet with founder Govind Singh Rathore and some of the people he and his charity helps, in hopes that I can get some first-hand information on this topic.
My three main focus areas for this project will be; Women's and girls's standard of education, widows and the problems they face in Indian society, and child marriages and the affect they can have on girls' lives.
As this will be my second trip to India, I am not as nervous this time as I was the last time. This time, I know what culture shock is coming, and my goal is to keep my main focus on looking everywhere-from train stations, to restaurants, to even walking down the street- to observe how women are treated.
When I return to Kingston, my plan is to visit some local churches and give talks on my experiences in India and what I observed about this issue. This blog is also part of my project, and I plan to update during my time in India.
