MAKING AMIDST THE HIMALAYAS
I volunteered at the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) from April 2019 to June 2019. SECMOL is an "Alternative School" founded with the aim to reform the educational system of Ladakh. Ladakh (also known as the Land of High Passes) is a cold desert in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with SECMOL's endless efforts to bring educational reforms, the campus is also an ambassador of eco-friendly living. With the development of solar heated buildings and by using other forms of solar energy, SECMOL has achieved a completely self-reliant campus. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here learning about the Ladakhi culture, spending time in the woodworking shop, playing basketball amidst the mountains, using compost toilets and meeting some amazing people! |
I was lucky to be a part of an on-going solar project on the SECMOL campus. I worked on building a solar water heater (image above). The set-up is built using wood, scrap metal parts and a sheet Fresnel lenses. I was a part of testing the first prototype version which could successfully burn a piece of paper.
I also got an opportunity to teach woodworking to the students on campus over a course of ten days. I was in-charge of five students and our task was to build something that would be useful for the wood shop or for their own dorm room. We used the basic tools like hand saws, hammers, nails and a bunch of sanding papers. Here's what some of my students created - they are all masterpieces!
I also got an opportunity to teach woodworking to the students on campus over a course of ten days. I was in-charge of five students and our task was to build something that would be useful for the wood shop or for their own dorm room. We used the basic tools like hand saws, hammers, nails and a bunch of sanding papers. Here's what some of my students created - they are all masterpieces!