Day 8 (Mumbai)

This was our first day with the Global Youth Leadership Institute, a program from which we learnt quite a bit about multiculturalism, though not entirely in the way the program leaders had intended.

Gathered into a room with delegations from four other schools (two each from the U.S. and India), we began the day with introductory games, the College Prep group made a presentation on our trip so far and then a leadership-style quiz divided us up into groups to come up with an event to encourage awareness of, and activism against, hunger. The latter was probably the most interesting activity, with many different ideas being thrown around and everyone getting a chance to realize the positives and drawbacks of their leadership style.

Some people commented on a couple minor issues. First, the program was completely confined to the room within the hotel; the brief walk we took seemed solely for exercise, not for interest in the neighborhood. In addition, some of the other students were difficult to talk to; it was very difficult for College Prep girls to start a conversation with the Indian boys as cross-gender socializing was obviously something they were not very used to!