FORMER Hanley Castle High School student Orla Owen is on the trip of a lifetime. She has left the Worcestershire countryside to spend a year teaching English to youngsters in India.

Orla chose to become a volunteer with Project Trust so she could teach English as a secondary language in a community where acquiring these language skills can represent a real opportunity for students to build a more promising future for themselves.

Her adventure started back in September 2015 when she had to begin raising £6,200 to help fund her trip to the subcontinent.

After a series of fund-raising events and donations from local groups and charitable trusts, Orla set off on her Asian adventure in September last year, flying to Hyderabad where she took part in a two-day induction with other volunteers before heading to her project in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Excited by the prospect of taking on a full workload and living in a culture, in many ways different to her own, Orla knew it would offer a dramatic learning curve with the potential of making her more independent than she has ever been and more confident in the future when facing other challenges.

Since leaving the UK, she has been keeping her old school up-to-date with her experiences on her travels and working abroad.

Here is a little snippet from Orla’s experiences in India:

“I live on campus with my project partner, alongside roughly 90 hostel children. Coming from a country where most kids use technology every day, it is refreshing to find here that the kids do not rely on technology as their main source of entertainment.

“They are constantly having plenty of fun with their friends - playing games outside such as cricket or an extremely popular sport called Kabadi.

“Although the children may face tough challenges in their personal lives, they greet me happily with glorious smiles. I can rely on my students to cheer me up if I am ever missing my family and friends.

“We are situated in a rural location with a shop nearby which sells delicious chai tea - I am definitely developing a chai addiction.

“Because of our isolated location we spend most of our time on campus, allowing us to spend ample time with the hostel kids. I teach seven 40-minute lessons from Monday to Saturday, which can be tough.

“Food is an extremely important aspect of Indian culture. I am enjoying eating a new, delicious cuisine which is universally loved by all Indians. This means curry EVERY DAY!

“For me classroom control is the hardest element of teaching, especially holding everyone's attention. The language barrier can be a problem with younger classes. I am relying on gestures and movement to communicate with my students.

“I never expected to be made to feel so welcome by our hosts and the children here. It is true when people say Indian people immediately make you feel as if you are part of their family.

“I realise that a year will fly by and I want to take this amazing volunteering opportunity and maximise the impact I can have. Thus we are immersing ourselves into our project by teaching English and grammar at the community college.

“It’s challenging to come face to face with social problems such as negative attitudes towards women and their role in society. Issues like this are still very prevalent in the South. I realise that I took for granted or didn't appreciate the freedom I have had had to do whatever I want and not be restricted by my gender or social position.

“We are not in the city so change is slower but change is still happening. India always manages to terrify and fascinate me. We are basically the only foreigners for miles, we do attract attention wherever we go. This was odd at the start but we have gotten used to being constantly stared at. People are always asking for selfies, which is a bug bear of my mine. Even I lose my cool sometimes!

“To leave all I knew and the safety net of HCHS was a strange and, dare I say it, scary move. I do sometimes feel homesick and I long for cake day with my old form (BK). However I am now at home in such a different culture to my own. I love our campus. We seem to always be celebrating a myriad of festivals with dancing and singing.”

Orla is currently recording her experiences in India with her own personal blog and anyone interested in reading more about her fascinating time away can visit https://orlainindia.wordpress.com.

Orla's previous form tutor at HCHS Ben Kingswood said: "I am extremely proud of what Orla has achieved, though not at all surprised. Orla was always a hardworking girl with a passion for culture and wanting to see the world. Her achievements are astonishing and it is wonderful to see Orla flourish in her new environment.

“Here at Hanley Castle we take pride in supporting our students even after they have left our care and we always feel a sense of admiration when our students let us know what they have been up to and how their education at Hanley has helped. I wish Orla the best as she continues to travel, and look forward to hearing from her again."