St Joseph's Institute of Management had organised the rural immersion program for the first years with an objective to develop a good experience about the village life and the culture and work in the village. The main purpose and objective was to know learn and be aware of the prevailing socio economic conditions in the country and develop a moral responsibility towards society and environment. The morning started by doing field work, there we cleaned the gardens, uprooted weeds, dug pits to plant trees etc. After breakfast on the first day we had group dynamics session. The second day we had a cleanliness drive at sindagi city where we cleaned the garbage from the roads. The third day we visited disabled homes and government school. And on the fourth day we went for sightseeing. After our morning activities, we would come back and have lunch, rest for a while and practice a small educational cultural program to be performed at the villages. In the evening after tea, we would visit different villages every day and interact with the people. There performed a small dance and skit for the people. After our village visits, we would have supper followed by evaluation of the day and schedule for the next day was given. On day four we visited SJT home ( HIV home) an we also visited and interacted with HIV children of Navasanidya. The main aim of this program was to give the students exposure to the rural areas. We got to observe the rural economy, understand the challenges and opportunities for business and develop an overall understanding of the rural society.

Also we got to know the various schemes undertaken by the Government in villages and to study and analyse the execution and effectiveness of these schemes.

We visited many houses interacted with the families, experienced what their living condition is and that experience was an eye opener. We also conducted cultural activities in rural villages. We made them smile and also we made them to share their story with us. This was a very good experience for me to learn new things and at the same time we all enjoyed a lot with the families and children in the village we visited. It was a life changing experience.

The four days spent in rural village will go down in the diaries as one of the most cherished moments of our lives. The simple life style of the natives taught us lessons the metropolitan failed to instil. Simplicity, humility, altruism and compassion for one another are the few things of many we imbibed during this exposure camp. Engrossed in daily activities such as field works and village visits, we almost forgot about the passing of time and days.

Clean air and clean hearts and yet, social evils such as child marriage and male dominion were prevalent in most of the villages. The coordinator helped us spread awareness on these practices through dramas and interaction with the villagers. We visited a few government schools to influence children especially girls to continue studies beyond schooling and not fall into the trap of marriage. We also took part in the cleanliness drive to spread awareness on the need to keep the environment clean.

At last, we visited hospitals and homes run by The Sisters of Tarbes that takes care of HIV affected children and realised our responsibility to look out for each other and live as one, especially for the poor and needy.

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