First Impression, January 2009
Ms. Carolina Pinasco


I arrived in Jodhpur by chance because some guy in Delhi sold us a ticket.

Durag Niwas Guesthouse was recommended by an English guy describing the place as “peaceful and calm”. Something not very common in Northern India.

As soon as I entered the Guesthouse I said to my friend “For the first time since arriving in India I feel peace, I want to stay here!”

We were supposed to stay for two nights, and my friend left, but I decided to stay for a week. I was desperately looking for an Ashram when the owner, Govind, commented something about Sambhali Trust and introduced me to a German volunteer that was teaching English. She invited me to join her during the next class and since that moment I felt I should join her for a while. Not only because the feeling of helping these nice students to learn English, but for the very special climate you can feel in the Guesthouse.

A kid, a small crazy dog, many nice employees and a very nice couple, Govind and Mukta, compose what we could call a supporting family. Besides, good Indian food, nice singing of Birds and a Courtyard are the perfect ingredients to rest and find peace of mind.

About the Project I should say that it’s really challenging the fact of teaching a new language to students that are really interested in getting new knowledge. Girls are always thankful about the lesson and you can notice how much they appreciate the teaching of English. Some of them, more advanced, have such a good level of English, fact that motivates you to still teaching and improving. On the other side, some of them are less advanced in the learning, but still you can feel how much effort do they make in order to improve.

It’s important to highlight how good other Guests feel about the Guesthouse. Everyone is satisfied about the accommodation and find this place peaceful and relaxed. Also, it is really amazing the way other tourists get interested in the Project attending to the lessons and being part of the teaching. Such was the case of some French girls that got involved in the teaching for a couple of days.

I would say, that is the perfect place to relax and combine some good actions in an optimal environment.

All of what these described before made me decide to join the Project for a month.