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News & Photos
Friends on the Other Side of the Globe
They were the first American students to visit the all-girls Pardada Pardadi Vocational School in the rural Ganges Valley, five hours by school bus from Delhi.
Traveling for the duration of their spring break, the six upper schoolers and an eighth grader were pioneers, just like the three Pardada Pardadi girls who visited McDonogh last fall. They completed the first cycle of an historic partnership between the two schools. In the process, they made new friends on the other side of the globe.
Accompanied by history teachers Ane Lintvedt and Marilyn Boyle, the delegation adjusted gracefully to the unfamiliar circumstances. They embraced the culture, formed instant bonds with their hosts, shared meals, competed in softball (and lost), and made the national news during their visit. When it came time to leave on March 17, emotions ran high.
Recounted Taryn ’08: “The time we spent at Pardada Pardadi was truly amazing. Going there, knowing nothing about the girls we would be visiting was a little intimidating. We drove for a long time to get to the village, and the whole time I felt sick. But once I got to the school and saw how excited the girls were about our arrival, I started to feel better.”
“I don't think I have ever felt so at home in any other country that I have traveled to. The friends I made at P.P., especially my friend Durgesh, will always stay with me. My favorite part was going to Durgesh's house. She and her mother and grandmother were so kind to me; they gave me the only chair they had. I could see they were excited to have me in their home with them for breakfast. I loved being there, in the village, especially that morning while we ate breakfast and watched the sun rise over a place that I would come to love.”
Highlights included:
The school visit, especially the incredibly welcoming and gracious people
The almost instantaneous, warm bond between the Indian students and their U.S. counterparts
The sunset ride on the Ganges, “a spiritual experience”
The visit to the “spectacularly beautiful” Taj Mahal.
While visiting Pardada Pardadi, the delegation stayed at the home of school founder and benefactor Sam Singh. There, they had comfortable, modern accommodations, a stark contrast to the living arrangements of their exchange partners.
Singh opened the school in 2000 to educate girls, with the intent of elevating their position in the rural society. Students attend academic classes in the morning and learn sewing and embroidery in the afternoon. The school enrolls 350 girls from the fifth to tenth grades and will add another 150 students in June.
Added chaperone Ane Lintvedt: “Before I went I had a pretty good academic understanding of what I was going to see, but, like the kids, I leave with people I can put in this place—a sense of a specific person’s everyday life. That’s hard to get unless you’ve been there.”
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They were the first American students to visit the all-girls Pardada Pardadi Vocational School in the rural Ganges Valley, five hours by school bus from Delhi.
Traveling for the duration of their spring break, the six upper schoolers and an eighth grader were pioneers, just like the three Pardada Pardadi girls who visited McDonogh last fall. They completed the first cycle of an historic partnership between the two schools. In the process, they made new friends on the other side of the globe.
Accompanied by history teachers Ane Lintvedt and Marilyn Boyle, the delegation adjusted gracefully to the unfamiliar circumstances. They embraced the culture, formed instant bonds with their hosts, shared meals, competed in softball (and lost), and made the national news during their visit. When it came time to leave on March 17, emotions ran high.
Recounted Taryn ’08: “The time we spent at Pardada Pardadi was truly amazing. Going there, knowing nothing about the girls we would be visiting was a little intimidating. We drove for a long time to get to the village, and the whole time I felt sick. But once I got to the school and saw how excited the girls were about our arrival, I started to feel better.”
“I don't think I have ever felt so at home in any other country that I have traveled to. The friends I made at P.P., especially my friend Durgesh, will always stay with me. My favorite part was going to Durgesh's house. She and her mother and grandmother were so kind to me; they gave me the only chair they had. I could see they were excited to have me in their home with them for breakfast. I loved being there, in the village, especially that morning while we ate breakfast and watched the sun rise over a place that I would come to love.”
Highlights included:
While visiting Pardada Pardadi, the delegation stayed at the home of school founder and benefactor Sam Singh. There, they had comfortable, modern accommodations, a stark contrast to the living arrangements of their exchange partners.
Singh opened the school in 2000 to educate girls, with the intent of elevating their position in the rural society. Students attend academic classes in the morning and learn sewing and embroidery in the afternoon. The school enrolls 350 girls from the fifth to tenth grades and will add another 150 students in June.
Added chaperone Ane Lintvedt: “Before I went I had a pretty good academic understanding of what I was going to see, but, like the kids, I leave with people I can put in this place—a sense of a specific person’s everyday life. That’s hard to get unless you’ve been there.”