Exchange JPThijsse College – St.

Stanislaus High School

December 2016. Visit to Mumbai
An Unforgettable Journey
After two years of preparation, the time had finally come for a school trip to the vastly
populated city of Mumbai, in India.

The students had been prepared and prepped, but nothing could have prepared them for
what they witnessed there. The host families were very friendly and hospitable. In fact so
much so they did their utmost to make us all feel welcome and comfortable, they tried to
make the “impossible” possible.
The children visited local sights, and experienced the Indian way of living. In India, life
revolves around the family. Most family members live in the same house or at least in very
close proximity of each other. This in itself is something everybody has to witness, this is
so alien to us.
The many religions that are prominent in India, were another eye opener. The fact that so
many beliefs can live in such close harmony, left an indelible mark on the students.
Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhism, and Catholicism all live in close proximity of each other and
everybody is tolerated. Nobody is forced to adapt to a different life style. Of course, the
caste system is still prominent. Some believe it is their fate and will not do anything to
change it. However, with the ever changing way of living and modernization many
inhabitants of India are starting to believe that things can change, and change for the
better. There is still so much poverty in India, and due to local laws and national
regulations not a lot can be done about this innate hardship.

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When we visited the REAP schools (schools set up to provide food and education to the
many homeless in Mumbai), we learnt that things are improving. By providing the
homeless children with education the priests are providing a way out of the circle of
poverty and destitution. Women are empowered by providing them with money and skills
“micro-management” and this means that things such as poverty and malnourishment are
being tackled where it is most needed.
The children were shocked and surprised that amidst all this impoverishment there was
affluence. People sleeping on the street, 2000-year-old Hindu temples, and the Bollywood
studios were amongst the impressions the children experienced. The houses the students
stayed in were modern and equipped with most modern amenities. Except for the
dishwasher; that remained one of the tasks of the wife of the household (or the female
maid). They were taken to modern restaurants (the logo M was frequented a couple of
times) and state of the art shopping malls. They encountered monkeys, and cows in the
street and some saw camels. The Indian food was digested with delight (as long as it was
not too spicy) and the heat (35 Celcius) was embraced with contentment.
The journey itself was a doddle. While we were travelling the students kept an eye on each
other and no one got lost on the way. We travelled from Amsterdam to Istanbul and had a
stopover at the Turkish capital. The airport is modern and has all the facilities for travellers.
After that we travelled to Mumbai. Here we had to show our visas, which had been applied
for online. As is the case in India, bureaucracy is part of Indian way of life. You either
embrace this or hate it. This took a while but not that long, because we knew it was all
done to ensure our safety.
Stepping out of the airport was already a culture shock. At six o’clock in the morning the
heat was oppressive. The amount of people waiting to pick others up, was also quite
awesome. After all the students were introduced to their host families we parted our ways,
and the children experienced how busy the streets of Mumbai can be. Cars, mopeds,
bikes and pedestrians all meandered through the crowded streets.
The next day we visited the school. The pupils of St Stanislaus always have an assembly
to start off the day. It was amazing to see all 1.000 boys on the school grounds doing their
exercises. Our students joined them in their daily yoga. After that we had a history class on
India and a geography class about India. We also learned a couple of Hindi words and
were taught a little bit of yoga. After the classes we were introduced to our first bite of
Indian food. Most food was enjoyed, as long as it was not too spicy. The vegetarian food
was delightful. All of this was a lot to take in, and the children went home exhausted.
However, back at their respective families, they perked up and were ready to be shown
more local sights.

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On Monday we visited the slums of Mumbai under the supervision of priests from the
REAP schools. The children were in awe of the poverty and the fact that the children at
these very small schools are willing to study hard to break the abject poverty. Some of
these homeless children were very clever and had a bright future ahead of them, if they
stayed with the programme. We learned that women were given some money for small
businesses, under the auspices of the priests with the help of micro management. This
was a humbling experience but also enlightening, and will never be forgotten.

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That evening one of the host families had organized a Mehendi party. The girls were
offered a henna tattoo. The women who painted the tattoos were amazing artists and the
girls were really pleased with the result. The party also included some local (folk) dancing
and singing local songs (in Hindi and Marathi). The Dutch students sang some local Dutch
songs and showed their equivalent of Dutch folk dancing. The evening ended with singing
Christmas songs. A fun evening was had by all.

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The next day we went to see the sights of Mumbai. We visited the Gateway to India, and
the Prince of Wales museum. We took a boat ride to the Elephanta caves: a network of
sculpted caves located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") in
Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres to the east of the city of Mumbai in the Indian state of
Maharashtra. The island, located on an arm of the Arabian Sea, consists of two groups of
caves—the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two
Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the
Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the Lord Shiva.

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The rock cut architecture of the caves has been dated to between the 5th and 8th
centuries, although the identity of the original builders is still a subject of debate. The
caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. All the caves were also originally painted in the
past, but now only traces remain.
The main cave was a Hindu place of worship until Portuguese rule began in 1534, after
which the caves suffered severe damage. This cave was renovated in the 1970s after
years of neglect, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 to preserve
the artwork. It is currently maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The day was rounded off with a visit to a famous food chain, and a visit to modern day
race course. The children went to their respective host families and were shown even
more sights in Mumbai (like a shopping mall with a roller coaster on the top floor).
The one but last day was used to experience one of the many religions in India. The most
played sport is cricket, and it is a bit more like a religion to some people. Like football in
Europe, cricket is played everywhere, and we participated in this queer contest involving
throwing a ball at a wicket and hitting the ball as hard as possible in order to guard the
stumps. After so many days of relative inactivity, the children were glad to be active. They
embraced the game and played their hearts out. This proved to be difficult because the
school is affiliated with a primary school and all these small children came to see these
Dutch giants. Soon the field was inundated with little Indian children wanting to know
everything about these tall, whitish people.
The activity was rounded off with a Christmas lunch where again the Dutch students
partook of all the food provided. Excellent, was the word that was used a lot.

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Travelling back was as easy as the start of the journey. Everybody kept a close eye on
their buddies and again no one was lost. The farewells at the airport proved to be difficult.
The host families again handed over even more presents. The children and the teachers
were inundated with the last shows of hospitality and friendliness of the Indian hosts. The
“impossible” was made possible, and this turned out to be the most unforgettable journey
ever.
This was a phenomenal trip. I cannot wait until the next group of Indian children come over
to visit Holland and we can start organizing the trip to India for the second time.

Wouter Bregman
January 2017
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
― Lao Tzu

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Exchange JPThijsse College – St. Stanislaus High School
St Stanislaus visit to the Netherlands 2017. 14-22 April 2017

From 14 April till 22 April St Stanislaus School from Mumbai visited the Dutch school Het
Jac. P. Thijsse College. It is part of an exchange programme called EUMIND. The two
school take part in projects with each other and to round it all off, the pupils visit each
other’s countries.

The first weekend was used to show family life in Holland. Some students visited some of
the beautiful sights in the North of Holland; for instance De Zaanse Schaans, Het
Zuiderzee Museum. The bulb fields were visited as well, of course. Holland is renowned
for its beautiful and colourful bulb fields. The typical Dutch breakfast was offered and all
the typical Dutch treats were presented; cheese, stroopwafels, poffertjes, pannenkoeken,
hagelslag. In Holland most children participate in a sports activity, this is always after
school. The Indian children got to experience this as well. On Sunday we met up for a
potluck dinner, and everybody had a story to tell.

We visited Amsterdam on our first weekday. We took a canal tour and walked around
Amsterdam and were shown some historical sites by the history teacher, Ortwin Lieuwes.
After walking through Amsterdam we visited the Van Gogh Museum. Here we were given
a tour by an art teacher of het Jac. P. Thijsse College, Christoph Reijman. The children
were impressed and asked a lot of questions.

The second weekday was used to visit Het Jac. P. Thijsse College. The Dutch
schoolchildren showed the Indian guests around. After that we had some lessons. First a
geography lesson, explaining where Holland was on the world map and what it involves
being under sea-level. After that a PE lesson with the assistance of Silvia van Tunen, one
of the organisors of this exchange. Then Mr Bregman taught a “Dutch for Dummies” class,
explaining some difficult Dutch words and explaining some Dutch customs. Everybody
enjoyed all the classes.

The third weekday was used to visit Castricum and its surroundings. The theme was
“World War Two”. The students were given an introductory lesson about World War Two
by the history teacher, Ben Vriesema. After that we visited the sites showing the remnants
of this atrocious war. All this under supervision of John Heidemann, an expert in this field.

On the fourth weekday we visited an Abbey in Egmond. Here they make candles and grow
their own fruit and vegetables. After that we visited an information centre De Hoep. Here
the children were explained how we purify water in our country. They also learned a lot
about the wild life and its conservation in our country. The children were very inquisitive.

Alkmaar was the last visit of the week. The famous “cheese market” was visited and the
children got to try all kinds of cheeses. After that we had a tour through Alkmaar under the
supervision of the history teacher, Theo van Heesse. The tour was interesting and
educational. The children were allowed to do some shopping after the tour and we all met
up at the famous American food chain.

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The last day had arrived and we had to say goodbye. That proved rather difficult, as
everybody had had a great time. We cannot wait until we see each other again in
December.

Wouter Bregman

May 2017

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you
came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett

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