Why do I love traveling so much? After numerous trips abroad I could no longer say “I am having a once in a life time experience” or “I’m trying to discover myself”. Those statements became platitudes and I was forced to look a little deeper. My obsession with traveling began in 5th grade when I participated in a two-month exchange program to Mexico. I loved the food, the language, the landscapes, the smells, and the subtle feeling that even the most basic things are different in a new place. However, I fell in love with Mexico because of the relationships I made there. I had a Mexican mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, best friend, girlfriend and everything else. Within a few weeks, I felt like I was Mexican too. I started dreaming in Spanish, and I would spend every afternoon playing fútbol from the time my host brother, Poncho, and I would get home until we were called to dinner (which was obviously delicious). To this day, I feel pride and shame for Mexico as if it were my own country. For me, traveling has always been about recreating this feeling to some degree.
Fast forward fifteen years and I found myself traveling in India. India is not an easy place to travel and I was keeping to a 10 dollar-a-day budget. More importantly, I felt so alien here that I thought I would never learn to love this country. As the Doors song goes, “people are strange, when you’re a stranger”. India is seriously strange. First of all, non-Indians stick out and complete strangers here are not afraid to stare, ask for pictures, ask where you are going, what your phone number is, and for your Facebook name. Add to this the sensory overload that is the loud horns, strong smells, crowded streets, and blazing sun of India. Equally remarkable is the lack of women on the streets. I found myself realizing that Ale, my Chilean friend, was the only woman on an entire street many times. This was especially true after dark. I thought maybe my travel credentials hadn’t prepared me for such a conservative society.
Fortunately for me, all this changed when I arrived at Pardada Pardadi Educational Society. The people at PPES have become my Indian family. I have mentors, friends, crushes, and at least 1,000 little sisters. They have showed me the beauty of Indian culture and how fun living here can be. PPES has been instrumental in making this project happen and they are the reason I have stayed in India for such a long time. So, without further ado, Adam and I would like to introduce you to some of those people via video interview. They will tell you all about how PPES works and why it is so special. That way you can learn about this NGO in the exact same way I did and get to know all the people who have made this experience truly unique and, yes, maybe even life changing.
-Camden
The Village Solar Project 