I traveled to Northern India in the summer of 2016, serving as the Global Communications Intern for Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS) at 20 years old.
CCS is an international nonprofit focused on intentional volunteering opportunities around the world. Their in-country branches are ran exclusively by local people from the communities being served, and they partner with local NGOs to best support those communities.
As Global Communications Intern, I spent my mornings volunteering in a special needs school and day care, my afternoons participating in a variety of cultural activities around the area, and my evenings running a successful social media campaign for CCS. Weekends were the stuff of legends – traveling across India, seeking the best of the best, and learning much along the way.
A lot of my work was spent documenting international volunteer efforts in a local special needs school and several anganwadi around Dharamsala.
Anganwadi is a type of rural mother and child care center in India. They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
India is a photographer’s dream and an old soul’s greatest love. The brilliant juxtaposition of culture and history is nearly too much to handle, and I find myself missing the piece of my heart I left in Dharamsala.
(Maybe you’ll find it in my photos.)
