Lisa Murgatroyd, 33
India Rajasthan Programme

Lisa was the lucky winner of the Gap Year for Grown Ups Photo Competition. The prize was £500 cash which Lisa put to good use on her 6-month trip to Asia.

Volunteer India Rajasthan Programme

I was always planning to go travelling with my boyfriend but he was too comfortable staying put in his life in London. I made the difficult decision to end the relationship after 6 years and go on my own. After being in a relationship for so long I was nervous of travelling alone. I decided to start my trip by participating on an organised volunteer placement that would provide the security that I was seeking. I knew then that this would give me the confidence to go on and travel independently. I started my trip in the Himalayas on a 6-day trek then joined the Gap Year for Grown Ups Teaching Volunteer Programme in Rajasthan. I chose this programme as I had always been interested in conservation and I had done some programmes on previous trips. This time I wanted to try something a little different - teaching. I knew that I wanted to go to India and the colourful deserts of Rajasthan appealed to my artist passions and background.

I am not certain that the villagers had ever seen a westerner before. On our first day the village held a welcome ceremony for the volunteers, everyone from the village attended and important dignitaries gave speeches. Within the community we were treated like celebrities, villagers warmly invited us into their homes for chai tea and the children followed us and asked for autographs! My new founded celebrity status was quite strange at first but a wonderful experience.

Our accommodation was a purpose built hotel that housed just us, the volunteers. It was private, served fantastic food and had a lovely garden and roof terrace in which to relax. During the weekdays we taught at the local primary school. Teaching was a challenge at first, I had no previous teaching experience and I don't think the children knew what to make of us. They were not used to volunteers and started off quiet towards us. This soon changed when we mucked in playing fun games and the reward for me was seeing their smiles and interacting with our lessons.

Throughout the placement, volunteers took part on some brilliant workshops - the Hindi language lessons helped enormously interacting with the children at school, we were also given lessons on Indian culture, history, cooking and yoga. A fantastic way to experience cultural immersion. Weekends were fun and very chilled, I got to know my fellow volunteers, prepared lessons and made stuff for the children for the week ahead. We also travelled into Jaipur, the capital of the Rajasthan 80km from camp. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Rajasthan and I felt a huge sense of achievement at seeing how far the children had come in the 4 weeks that I was there. I met some amazing people and even went on to travel round India with a fellow volunteer before heading off on a 5 month exploration of South East Asia on my own. Winning the photo competition meant a lot too as my camera had been stolen in Vietnam, I was able to buy myself a new one en-route and put off coming home by staying out a little longer!