Rural Exposure Camp “Reaching the Un-reached”

 “Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them….” (Lao Tzu)

23^rd to 29^th October 2013: On 23rd October, the 75 AICUFers from St. Joseph’s College, St. Joseph's College of Commerce, St. Joseph’s Evening College, St. Anne's College and St. Pius’ Church left for Mundgod, North Karnataka, for a 5 day rural camp. In Mundgod at the Loyola Vikasa Kendra (LVK), we were briefed about the two villages by Fr. Arun Luis SJ where we would go for the camp. The AICUFers were divided into two groups randomly. One group led by Prof. Melwin went to Ugginkere where there is a prominent population of Siddhis - Africans who were brought by Portuguese to India as slaves and the other group was coordinated by Sch. P V Joseph Mang Pu SJ (II Yr BSW) to Shirigere-consisting mainly of Gowlis who have come from Maharashtra. Both these communities have greatly suffered by the hands of the higher classes and neglected by the government. The AICUFers who went to these villages had the opportunity of staying in the houses of the villagers and ate whatever the villagers prepared. The generosity and hospitality of the families was unimaginable. This helped us to immerse into the culture of the villagers and formed a bond with them. Unfortunately, 95% of the villagers were illiterate. During the survey, the AICUFers noticed that the villagers were negligent in having family toilets. While the AICUFers in Ugginkere dug the foundation for the Catechism class-room behind the chapel and in Shirigere we cleared the pathway from the village to the road via the grassy fields for the children to walk to their school and made a decent drainage system. The AICUFers had their share of fun along with the work and through various interactive sessions. It was with heavy hearts that we bid them goodbye when we left for Mundgod on 28th November. At noon, we visited the Tibetan colony in Mundgod. Indeed, the rural camp had prepared the AICUFers in bringing about a positive change in them and in the society. 

Tibetan Colony in Mundgud