Hi, my name is Franzi and I’ll be in Bangalore for the next couple of weeks. You will hear and read a lot from me, because blogging will be part of my job at Leave UR Mark. It’s been a while now since I came to India and this week I visited the first volunteer project that LUM has to offer. I had an amazing time at the YMCA’s boy’s shelter and got to spend a lot of time with some truly amazing kids.
School of Hard Knocks: Orphans in India
This is Karthik. Karthik is 15 years old and has had a pretty rough start in life: No parents and a life in the streets. Fortunately he found his way into the shelter, where he now eats, learns and plays with many other kids every day. He was really lucky, because life isn’t quite easy for orphans in India.
Karthik is 15 years old and lives in the big city of Bangalore
Never in his life has Karthik held a camera in his hand. And because he was so fascinated by it, I just gave him mine for a couple of hours while we were making a little movie for Leave UR Mark. In no time he figured out most of the settings and tried out pretty much all of the functions that a reflex camera has to offer.
Check out these truly amazing pics that emerged out of this little experiment. With the exception of the picture above, all photocredit fully goes to Karthik. You cannot imagine how these boys are beaming with positive energy and lust for life. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with them in the next couple of weeks.
The boys at the shelter were so excited about making a movie that day
Some of the boys are older and take care of the younger ones
You wouldn’t believe how many selfies we took with the boys
We met some more kids in the streets that joined our little team
I got this weird feeling like I could see the world in his eyes
The boys from the shelter were so eager to help with the shooting
This boy helped me bargain the merchant so I could get a better price
Most Indians love to have their picture taken
I think Karthik took around 100 pictures of me in only two hours
He also snapped a good shot of our cameraman
The boys were truly fascinated by the technology we were using
That’s the area where the YMCA’s boy’s shelter is located
Volunteering with orphans in India: Isn’t that depressing?
I have to admit that my impression of volunteering with orphans couldn’t have been more wrong. I thought getting this close to extreme poverty would make me really sad. But in fact it was quite the opposite: I can’t remember the last time I was laughing as much as I did in the past couple of days. I really take my hat off to these boys, who, despite all obstacles, fought for their place in life and look optimistically into the future.
So what am I actually doing in Bangalore?
I am a travel blogger from Germany and will do some blogging and social media for Leave UR Mark in the next couple of weeks. After I finished my work at the boy’s shelter, I will also visit a women’s development center, an animal shelter and an organisation that provides help for children with mental issues.
Besides that, I will travel a lot and try to explore Bangalore and the surrounding area as much as possible. Therefore I might soon be able to provide you with some useful tipps and travel hacks for your own journey to India.
